Twin Star
by Aki-Chan04
Summary: Chapter 10: Kamui needs to save Nibai from Fuuma, but it means confronting old memories in the process.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I wish I owned some of this, at least, but I don't. They're all CLAMP's, with the exception of Nibai, who *is* mine. Feel free to write about her, but ask me first please! Arigato!

Twin Star

Part 1

The lights of Tokyo shone brightly against the dark sky, shadowed by the storm clouds threatening to break mercilessly over the city. Another vision, another dream, another nightmare. There was no end to them; Hinoto knew this and blinked sightless eyes, watching the scene unfold before her in her mind.

The clouds hung thick and dark over the city, the lights orange in the sulfur glow of the pre-storm air. Humidity so thick she could feel it even as she knew that she wasn't really outside, wasn't anywhere but within her private room beneath the streets of the city, endlessly re-circulated air brushing her mute lips. But her dreams had become her reality, as this one was now, and she was a helpless victim to the visions that ruled her world.

Now there came a light, a bolt of lightning lancing across the sky and Hinoto started at its

soundless fury, drawing back from it although she knew it could not touch her. Then again, there

was so little that she knew for sure these days that it seemed entirely likely that the spark could indeed encompass her and relieve her of this world.

But not yet.

And now the clouds were parting, and even as sheet upon sheet of cruel, cold rain poured down into the city, a circle of sky was beginning to show. Pinpoints of light faded into existence as the storm parted around the seven stars, the tail of the bear, the Seven Seals.

Lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating the city below and obscuring the stars. Hinoto blinked, and her breath caught in her throat as she looked back up into the circle of clear velvet sky, untouched in the midst of the summer storm. Moonlight filtered down to touch the deserted concrete of the Nakano Sun Plaza. And above…

Above, the seven stars...

... were eight.

***

Kakyou sat silently on his beach, watching the tide rise slowly in the afternoon sun. It was odd, he thought, how he called this place _his_ – this place belonged to no one, but much as he knew that he still felt he had some small claim here. For this place was the starting point of his dreams, the epitome of the outside world that he could not touch, and so he felt some sort of connection here with the sand and the waves and the air. 

Her shadow fell over him and he looked up to see her smiling sweetly down at him. He gave her the ghost of a bow. He smiled; he'd had a feeling she would show up.

"Good afternoon," she smiled at him. 

"Good afternoon. What brings you here?"   
She gave him a playful punch. "Oh, like you need to ask." She stopped, sighing, as her face fell slightly. "I saw the sign. It's going to start, isn't it?" 

He nodded, a wisp of silver hair blowing across his face. He reached up and tucked it behind his ear. "Yes. It's going to start." 

"Well then," she began, stretching catlike in the summer sun. "I suppose I can't afford to chat any longer." She looked down at him, brown eyes shining as the sea and the sun filled them. 

"I'm going to go visit my brother, then. Take care, Kakyou." She bowed slightly before turning and disappearing into the wind. 

Kakyou sighed, lifting his face to the sun. Yes, he had seen the sign. Things were going to start. He supposed he ought to tell someone; it was doubtful that Kanoe had been able to see her sister's dream about this so soon. Perhaps later, when the forces were stronger; but not now, and so it would lie with Kakyou to tell his Kamui of what he had seen. 

He stood, preparing to leave the beach, to travel into Fuuma's dreams and speak with him there. As his eyes traveled once more over the waves, he caught a glimpse of a profile, a flash of long black hair blowing in the breeze. Soft brown eyes, a sweet mouth opened in laughter. Then a slim outline, clothed in a CLAMP School uniform, a child just barely on her way to becoming a woman… 

Then the vision faded and he turned, leaving the beach to travel to darker places. 

That night, Sumeragi Subaru dreamed of his sister.

***

"Ne, but what does it mean? I mean, I know it's prophetic and all - don't think I'm doubting you, Hinoto Hime-sama. But... eight stars?" Arisugawa Sorata scratched the back of his head absently, casting his gaze down to the princess before him. Beside him Arashii stood, arms crossed and pale face as expressionless as ever. One might think she was a cold and unfeeling person, despite the beauty that shone clearly around her.

But Sorata knew better.

"There are seven stars in the Big Dipper," the monk went on, thinking out loud. "Seven stars for the Seven Seals. What the hell would eight stars mean?"

"There were eight stars," Hinoto replied, telepathic words backed with a whisper of confidence Sorata hadn't heard in a while. "There were eight stars, because –"

"Mizar is a double star."

Both Sorata and Arashii turned, startled by the voice behind them, to see the Sumeragi Onmyouji standing in the doorway, long coat dripping with the remnants of the storm raging outside. Sorata himself was nearly dry after being similarly drenched; Arashii had claimed the umbrella when they had left the house and wasn't experiencing the effects of the storm quite so personally. If you asked him, Yuzuriha and Kamui were the lucky ones, safe and dry from the storm inside. Kamui had been sleeping again – a worrisome habit, as of late – when the princess had called to them and requested this "meeting," but Hinoto had told them to let him be. He didn't need to be here for this. Sorata wondered why.

"He's right," Hinoto's voice seemed to echo throughout the room; "Although it hardly seemed important until now. The stories speak of the Seven Seals, there was no need to worry about an eighth star."

"But now you've seen something," Arashii reiterated, eyes dark with thought.

"Yes," Hinoto replied. "The double star has awoken, and there will be an Eighth Seal."

Sorata blinked. "Ne? An Eighth Seal? You mean we get one more than they do?" The possibility of even one more ally was too good to be true. Wasn't it?

Hinoto gave a barely perceptible nod, her pale head inclining slightly on her slender neck. "Yes. There will be another ally; one which the Dragon of Earth must not find and sway. We must find her first."

"Her?"

"Yes. A girl, the opposite-sex 'twin' of the Seal that resides on Mizar." Subaru's soft voice echoed from the doorway.

"Hey," Sorata turned, eyeing the Onmyouji. "How do you know so much about this?"

Slender shoulders shrugged beneath the white trenchcoat. "It is a story passed down through my family," was all he said, but Sorata got the feeling that there was more that he wasn't telling. It was probably pointless, however, to question Subaru, and so Sorata let those few words be enough. For now.

"The Sumeragi know more of the old stories than even I do," Hinoto admitted suddenly, and Sorata was nearly shocked. That someone could know more about this than Hinoto… "That is why I asked him to come, " she finished.

"Huh. So if this is a chick, then Mizar ain't your star then, ne?" he asked, eyeing Arashii. She gave him a rather unreadable, yet definitely disapproving, look. He flashed her a grin and turned back to Subaru. "So whose star is it, then?" 

A strange look passed through Subaru's eyes, but it was Hinoto who answered his question, voice as soft as a whisper. "Yours."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Nibai's the only one that's mine. Oh well… 

Twin Star

Part 2

            She felt it. She wasn't quite sure what she felt, but she felt something. Something deep inside her awakened and called out, as if pulling on an invisible string. A faint bell, an ethereal melody that turned her head toward the sky as she finished sweeping the porches of the shrine. She allowed her eyes to travel upwards, looking to the heavens in search of that which was calling her. 

            The sun had set not more than half an hour ago, and a residual orange glow lingered in the west. To the east, the sky had already turned a deep blue-black, with perfect white stars winking into existence. It was here that her gaze was drawn, to the seven stars outlining the dipper shining in the post-dusk sky. They glimmered faintly, as if through a curtain of gauze, twinkling merrily to those who walked the Earth. 

            She stopped sweeping, bringing a hand to her eyes almost as if to shade them, to block out the memory of the light of the sun. The stars were singing to her, their song drifting on the wind just barely tossing her hair, and she listened, because that was what she had always been taught to do. 

            _Tokyo, the stars whispered. __You must go to Tokyo, because something awaits you there. _

            She squinted at the light, wondering if the stars spoke the truth. Of course, it was rare that they didn't, and they'd most certainly always spoken the truth to her, when she'd taken the time to listen. Of course, she didn't often take the time – oh, that was about as often as she took the time to listen to her elders, and everyone around here knew just how often _that_ was. 

            The old woman would be pleased, however. She was attuned to the stars more acutely than Nibai could ever be, and she knew how to listen to their song even when they were blotted out by the glare of the sun at noon. 

            _Oh yes, Nibai smiled, giving the floor one last sweeping over, just to make sure, because she didn't want to go without dinner tonight. Usually she just stole food from the kitchen when that happened, but tonight the stars had already put her in a different mood. _

            _Yes, Yui-san will be pleased. Now. I wonder if she'll let me go_ to Tokyo_._

                                                *                       *                       *

            Sorata blinked, Hinoto's single word ringing in his ears. "Mi-mine? But... I don't have a twin!"

            Arashii nearly snorted next to him - it came out, however, as something much more dignified than that. "Of course you don't have a twin – not literally."

            "Oh." Sorata grinned. "Got it. So there's some chick out there, right now, who's my 'twin'? Er, proverbially," he cast a glance at Arashii. "So what?"

            "You must find her and bring her back here. She has been called to Tokyo – I saw that in my dream as well. She will be lost, without guidance. Her path is with the Dragon of Heaven, and you must guide her to it, before the Dragon of Earth sees what I have seen and steps in."

            "Yeah, sure," Sorata nodded. "They ain't stealin' our allies, at least not while I'm around!"

            Arashii gave him another of her disapproving looks. He loved those. They were just so damned cute.

            "Do you have any idea where she'll go?" Arashii turned her attention to the Princess now. "Did you see anything that could help us?"

            "Yes," Hinoto nodded again, "She will appear near the Nakano Sun Plaza two days from now – she will be drawn to the kekkai there. You must be there to meet her and see her safely back here."

            "Great! You can count on us to take care of it." Sorata tipped his hat to the princess. "Well, I guess we'll on our way, then." He extended an elbow to Arashii. "Care to join me, cutie?"

            "Hmph." She swept past him, moving soundlessly past Subaru and out into the hall, ringing for the elevator that would take them to the lobby.

            "Heh," Sorata shrugged and winked at Subaru before following her out into the hall, sidestepping the Onmyouji as he left.

            Subaru did not follow them; instead he moved into the room, as if to better scrutinize the

dreamgazer before him.

            "You are hurt." Hinoto spoke first, surprising him.

            When he said nothing, she went on. "She is not the same person. She may not even be a part of the same person." 

            "I know that," he said softly, hands balling in the pockets of his damp coat. "But why didn't you prepare for it? If the Dragon of Earth gets to her first, they'll have the extra ally. Just because the star appears beside ours means nothing. You know that. What will you do if they reach her first?"

            Hinoto closed her blind eyes, shaking her head the tiniest bit. The sound of bells filled the air as she opened pupilless eyes and looked back up at the Onmyouji. "I knew this could happen, but I could not tell how likely it was until I saw this dream. But," she said, lifting her dead eyes to looks towards Subaru with something like determination in them, "I do not think Kanoe has seen this dream. She is not looking for it." 

            "Neither were you," he pointed out. 

            "She is our Star," Hinoto countered, even as Subaru was not entirely certain of the truth in that statement. 

            "She is good - she has a pure soul, and she will join our side," Hinoto said. "I do not fear that even if the Dragon of Earth were to reach her first, that she would side with them. I think she knows right from wrong, and we are right. They are wrong."

            Subaru did not scoff – outwardly – at the princess, but continued to gaze at her thoughtfully. "You are so sure of that, Princess?" The world just didn't seem that black-and-white to him. Not anymore.

            "Aren't you?"

            It was Subaru's turn to close his eyes, to glance at the tumultuous sea of thoughts floating just below the surface of the here and now. He was silent a moment before returning his gaze to Hinoto.

            "Yes," he sighed. "I am." _I have to be_. 

            "We have to be," Hinoto echoed, as if she had heard his thought, "or we have no hope of winning. We must believe we are right or we cannot support Kamui. You know that."

            "I do," he replied after a moment. It was true, how could anyone support Kamui who did not support his cause? It didn't fit – it just couldn't. It couldn't...

            "Then you know I am right, and we are doing the right thing." Hinoto sighed. "You may go now, Subaru. I have faith in both Sorata and Arashii; they will succeed. I will call if I need you again."

            "Goodnight, then." Subaru bowed to the princess before turning and leaving the room, the air closing behind him as if he had never been there at all.

            Hinoto sighed, blinked, and felt a small smile grace her lips. She laughed softly to herself in the dim light of the empty room.

            "Yes, of course we are right. How could anyone doubt such a thing?"

                                                *                       *                       *

            "So, tell me about Tokyo," she said, settling herself before the old woman, setting down the tray of soup and bread she had brought with her as the priestess's evening meal. She brushed off the sleeves of her robe – they were always getting dirty and she knew Yui-san hated less-than-perfect appearances.

            Two dark eyes looked up at her beneath a cascade of white hair. "Tokyo?" There was a pause, then a sigh. "The stars have spoken to you as well then, my child." 

            Nibai nodded. "So I'm going to Tokyo?"   
            "You must," was the reply. "It is your destiny. A place that only you can hold lies empty there. You must go fill it." 

            Nibai was silent a moment, but the old woman said nothing more. "What place? What am I to go and do there?" she asked. 

            "They will tell you when you get there. The stars have told me that only they can tell you properly what your place is. You have powers," Yui-san said, and Nibai paled – they hadn't been spoken of for nearly a year. She _did have powers, but she hid them and tried not to think about them. No one else here had such power, that was true, and it was therefore best that they didn't know about hers. _

            "Yes," she replied softly. 

            "There is need of them, in Tokyo. You must, and will, go to Tokyo," Yui-san repeated. 

            Nibai sighed – sometimes the cryptic messages of the sky seemed to bring more annoyance than answers. But if it meant she would get to go to Tokyo… 

            "Where will I stay, then?" 

            "I have already arranged for you to attend the CLAMP School. The chairman awaits your arrival." 

            Nibai blinked – CLAMP School? Surely they couldn't afford – 

            "It has been taken care of," the old woman said, a note of finality in her voice as she answered the question that Nibai had not yet put to words. "Do not worry about the circumstances." 

            "When – when am I leaving then?" 

            "Tomorrow." 

            She nearly gasped. _Tomorrow_? But she had to pack – she had to say goodbye – 

            "You will be ready by three o'clock. Now go, and leave me to my dinner." 

            Nibai stood, bowed, and left. Tomorrow. At three. But… It was all so sudden; she felt as if she'd been caught unawares by a whirlwind, and now had no choice to see where it left her after it had blown itself out.

            Just what did the stars have in mind for her, after all? She looked up to the sky, but a thin layer of cloud hid any answers from view.

                                                *                       *                       *

            Tokyo. She was in Tokyo; although she'd never been there, only seen pictures, she felt as though she'd lived here her entire life. There was the Tokyo Tower, rising above the buildings, and here she was standing on a bridge spanning a dark blackness of water. Lights twinkled at intervals along the cables, bright stars against a cloudy sky in which the real stars couldn't be seen. 

            She couldn't hear anything – not the singing of the stars, but not the sounds of the city, either. Not the sounds of her own breathing or heartbeat. 

            One hand flew to her chest, as she felt momentarily out of breath, but her heart beat steadily beneath her fingers, and after a moment the feeling of drowning passed. It was then that she looked ahead of her, down the dull asphalt that stretched along the bridge and into the city beyond, and saw them. 

            White and black, light and dark, strong and weak, she saw two men standing on the pavement, watching each other as though that alone could decide some battle between them. Because they were here to battle. She knew that. 

            A sakura petal drifted across her vision; she raised one hand to catch it as it lilted along on the breeze like a lost melody, and as she caught the petal between her fingertips it shattered and each shard stung her skin like glass. She winced and pulled her hand back to herself, inspecting her fingertips, slick with blood, frowning. 

            It was then that the dark one struck. 

            But suddenly they weren't two men, they were two dragons, twisting and writhing in the thick city air, and thunder flashed overhead but it wasn't raining. Not water, anyway – sakura petals fell from the sky in torrents, masking the bridge and even the dragons from her view, but she knew they were there, she could feel the heat of their battle on her face and she lifted one hand as if to shield her face – 

            Something stung her, and she withdrew her hand again as the sakura vanished, the bridge vanished, the city vanished and she was left alone in some cold and dark and empty place, staring at her hand. Her skin was on fire and blood dripped into her lap; she didn't care. 

            She was staring at the pentacle immaculately burned into the white skin of her palm. 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Even if I dress up as Kamui, that still doesn't mean that I hold anything over CLAMP… ^^;;

Twin Star

Part 3

"Ne, Nibai-chan, what're you doing?"

Long dark hair fell over her shoulder as she looked up; her best friend Miki was peering over her windowsill, holding himself there by his elbows.

"Packing, baka," she said, tossing a pillow in his direction. He grinned and swatted it aside, thereby losing his grip on the windowsill and crashing to the ground outside. Nibai laughed to herself, knowing he'd be back in a manner of seconds. She was right; an instant later he had clamored fully into the room and was sitting on her bed beside a pile of manga and schoolbooks. Oddly enough, the manga looked to be in better shape than the texts.

"You going somewhere?" Miki asked, watching over her shoulder as she tossed a few of her school uniforms into the small suitcase. "You never go anywhere - where're you going?"

She turned, grinning like a madwoman, and spread her arms wide. "Tokyo!" She had resolved that if she was going to leave, she was going to leave, and she might as well be excited about it. 

Never mind that it meant leaving her best friend behind. Of course, she'd come back on holidays and whatnot, and there was no reason he couldn't visit her. 

That was what she told herself, at least.

Miki could only blink for a moment, before falling back onto the bed in a laughing fit.

"You? Tokyo?" he choked out. "Why the hell is she letting you go to Tokyo? What, you get accepted into that prissy CLAMP School or somethin'?" His laughter subsided and he lay on her bed, staring at her ceiling, the rough wooden boards staring right back at him.

Nibai's face appeared, blocking out the slats. "As a matter of fact, I have," she sniffed, but it was only mock hurt, because he could see her smile twitching beneath the mask of offense. And her dark eyes were still as excited as ever.

"You're leaving…" 

"Today. At three." 

"_Three_? Hasn't she ever heard of advance notice?" 

Nibai laughed a little. "Her? Think again. You'll come visit, right?" 

"Hell yes." 

"Good." 

"Huh," was all he said, after a moment. Nibai continued packing, humming as she went, throwing more things into the suitcase without really bothering to fold them.

"Man, if she's gonna try and marry you off there, good luck to her," Miki commented, watching her out of the corner of his eye.

"Marry?" Nibai snorted, turning to face him. "I pity the poor boy who'd actually want to marry me!" She tossed her unkempt hair and did a small twirl, much to Miki's amusement. 

Miki glanced down at his watch as their laughter died down, and suddenly he fell silent. 

"Ne, what is it?" Nibai asked, tossing a few more things into the suitcase. 

"It's almost three now," Miki said, all notes of amusement gone from his voice. He looked up at her, and his expression was suddenly more pleading than she'd ever seen it before. 

"You're really leaving," he said, not so much a question as a statement. "Today, right now." 

She nodded, trying not to lose her good mood, because she knew how terrible she would feel if she let it really sink in. 

"Hai. But, like I said, you'll come visit."

Miki nodded. "Yeah… but still…"

Silence fell, with the two of them merely looking at one another, wondering what it would be like to lose their respective best friend in the next few minutes.

She and Miki were still both lost in silence when there was a stern knock at the door; silence fell as Yui-san opened the door an instant later, her face set in its usual mask of discipline.

"Sato-san," she said, looking at the boy seated on the bed.

Miki waved weakly.

She paid no more attention to him than that, for she turned to Nibai and said, "It is time to leave. Your things are packed?" She cast a glance at the messily-packed suitcase and heaved a sigh. To her credit, however, she said nothing.

She stepped forward, placing a withered and weather-tanned hand on the side of Nibai's face. "This is more important than you know. You understand, Nibai."

Nibai could do nothing but nod; the look on the old woman's face - that look of foreboding and reluctance - was back. She could practically feel the stars watching her, although it was late afternoon and they still lay far below the horizon, shrouded in summer haze.

"Then go. And I will deal with Sato-san."

Nibai turned and snapped the suitcase shut, casting a long glance at her best friend of more years than she could remember.

"Goodbye, Miki-kun," she said, her voice heavy - nearly as heavy as the old woman's, and somehow sounding distinctly unlike her own.

"Goodbye," Miki replied, his voice barely filling the air between them. There was something more to this - something more than Nibai's acceptance into CLAMP School - if that was even really why she was leaving in the first place. Although she had never once lied to him, Miki somehow couldn't believe that was why she was leaving. Not with the atmosphere here and now, weighing the room down like a thick blanket threatening to smother them all.

No, there was something more.

Nibai turned and left soundlessly, and Miki was left alone in the room with the stargazer.

***

Tokyo was huge. It was bigger than even she had expected – then again, never having left her own tiny town of origin, she had nothing with which to compare it. The buildings loomed endlessly above her as she wandered the crowded streets, shaded from the midday sun by the endless stalls lining each side of the street. She glanced at what they had to offer now and again, but seeing as her pocketbook was rather bare after paying for her new school uniforms and books, she preferred to browse rather than buy. She had arrived apparently in the middle of one of CLAMP school's infamous festivals; it even spilled out past the borders of the campus and into the streets of the city around it. Of course, no one seemed to mind, and Nibai had actually managed to wander quite far off campus before the stalls finally began to thin.

She had spent all of yesterday and a good chunk of this morning taking care of everything at CLAMP school – her tuition, living arrangements, school supplies, and the like. She was roomed (somewhat conveniently) by herself in a quiet section of the girls' dormitory; although the room was a bit small it had a lovely view, overlooking the park that composed the exact center of the CLAMP Campus. There was a gorgeous fountain that had put her right to sleep last night, the gentle rushing of water singing her to sleep. 

Now she began wandering the streets of the city in earnest, finally finding herself near a beautiful park overrun with large, heavily blooming sakura trees. She was glad that the weather had finally cleared up – much of the morning there had been nothing but heavy, cold drops of rain pouring down from the sky. But now, only a few hours later, the sky was a piercing, clear blue with barely a cloud in sight. The perfect weather for taking a walk through a breathtaking park like this. 

There were quaint little paths cut through the trees and brushes and she followed one, letting her mind wander, blinking at the early afternoon sun through the pink petals that seemed to comprise the air around her. The scent was nearly unbearable – she had never been around so many flowering sakura in all her life. 

It reminded her of a dream, and she glanced down at her hand. Nothing. 

She fell under the shade of another of the trees, clasping her hands behind her head and looking up into its branches as she passed. This one was the biggest yet; she paused to admire its beauty as its fragrant pink petals fluttered down past her nose, coating the path beneath her feet in a blanket of flowers.

_It's you, I knew you would come…_

Nibai whirled around, sure she had heard a voice, looking around for the person that had just spoken. But there was no one, save the few people strolling about, and not one of them was close enough for her to have heard their voice. 

_I see what you're here to do, but it's not what you think…_

"Hello?" she called into the storm of petals, searching for someone, perhaps hiding – 

She swung around the side of the tree and stopped short, face-to-face with a man. He was dressed in all black, despite the warm temperature, and wearing sunglasses that revealed nothing of his expression as he looked calmly down at her. His perfect skin was marred only by a small, pale scar running along his left cheekbone. He was smoking a cigarette, the smoke curling in tendrils and floating placidly upwards in the light breeze that was ruffling his dark hair. 

"Oh – I'm sorry," Nibai bowed, her cheeks burning. "I thought I heard someone." 

The voice she had heard had been a woman's voice – a young woman, possibly not much older than she. Whoever it had been, it had not been this man. 

"Did you?" he asked, removing the cigarette from his mouth and blowing the smoke upward. It mingled with the sakura blossoms before disappearing into the sky.

"I… I must have been hearing things. Sumimasen," she said, bowing again. She turned on her heel and began walking away, suddenly wanting to put as much distance between herself and that man as possible. He gave her the creeps, as though she'd seen him before but she couldn't place where. She shivered, suddenly cold, but tossed her hair over her shoulder and slowed down a bit, heading for the entrance to the park. Once out on the street again, she heaved a small sigh of relief, shaking her head. 

"Some people…" she muttered to herself, before setting off through the streets once more, intent on doing some sightseeing to forget the strange feelings still trying to stir in the pit of her stomach. 

But three blocks later, she realized that he was following her. Oh, he was being discreet – so discreet that she was amazed that she _did_ notice he was trailing her. But he was. And that bothered her. Immensely.

Of course, letting him know that she was aware of his presence was exactly the wrong thing to do; still, it was very difficult to continue on as if she were oblivious to him, slowly but surely tracing her steps.

She wandered through Tokyo, feeling rather annoyed that she couldn't enjoy the sights because of the dark shadow tailing her. But her gut was leading her somewhere – she could feel her feet taking steps as if of their own volition, and she had learned to trust her gut, because it was most often the stars speaking to her behind the blue haze of the daytime sky. So when she stepped onto the sidewalk across one of countless streets and suddenly realized the man following her had not crossed the street behind her, she silently thanked whatever had led her here.

"Yo." 

She looked up; she saw a boy who looked not much older than herself, dressed in a t-shirt and cargo pants, a baseball cap perched precariously on his head among unkempt black hair. He seemed friendly enough, grinning widely as he looked down at her, hands in his pockets. The high school girl she'd seen with him, clothed in a simple red school uniform – all she could tell was that it wasn't CLAMP's – was standing a little behind him, her long black hair blowing in the wind, her face impassive, her dark eyes studying Nibai intently. 

"Hi there," she said, returning his smile although she was still a little wary. These people were giving her the same kind of feeling that the man she had just "escaped" had. It wasn't _exactly_ the same kind of feeling, but it was too similar for her own comfort. 

"Ne, cutie, what's your name? I'm Sorata - Arisugawa Sorata," he said genially, bowing slightly. 

There wasn't much else she could do. "Imagawa Nibai," she replied, returning the bow. She straightened and looked up at him; he wasn't bad-looking himself, she thought with a bit of a wicked smile. 

"Nice to meetcha," he said, and stepped back so he was standing even with the girl accompanying him. "This is Kishuu Arashi," he said, placing an arm around her shoulders. Arashi gave him a positively withering look before stepping smoothly to the side. This didn't seem to really bother Sorata, however; he just jammed his hand back into his pocket. 

"Do I know you?" Nibai ventured to ask after a moment. "I don't think I've seen you before…" 

"Iie, you don't, but I'm sure we feel familiar to you, ne?" Sorata asked, shaking his head slightly with his reply. 

Nibai blinked, but since he had said exactly what she felt, she nodded. "Yeah, you got that right. Why?" 

"We are Dragons of Heaven," Arashi said evenly, looking straight at Nibai with her piercing gaze. "We are the sworn allies of Kamui, and the protectors of humanity. And you are one of us." 

Nibai took a moment to let this sink in. Then she let out a low whistle, crossing her arms before her chest. "Wow. Straight to the point. I dreamed of… dragons. Of a battle. Is that what you mean?" 

"That is it exactly," Arashi confirmed. 

Nibai shook her head slightly, as if all of this would make more sense if the contents were well-mixed. She somehow doubted that, however. But if this was what the stars had meant… 

And she had a feeling it was. 

"So… I'm a Dragon of Heaven? Who is this Kamui, that you claim I'm a sworn ally to, then?" she asked, when Arashi nodded at her first question.

"Pissy little kid, but he's got a helluva lotta power, and he's the one who's going to fight to save the world as it is in the end," Sorata put in, still grinning madly. 

"Huh." She tapped her foot a moment, trying to let what they were saying sink in. "The end – the battle?" 

"Hai – look, there's someone who can explain this much better than we can," Sorata said, rubbing the back of his neck. "We were sent here to take you to her, so you can hear her out." 

"Please," Arashi said, "listen to her. She will explain things." 

Nibai shrugged. "Sounds fine to me. Besides, I get the feeling I don't have much of a choice. And not with _him_ following me." 

She inclined her head ever-so-slightly in the direction of the man; he was standing nearly half a block away, concealed in the shadow of one of the buildings. The only indication that he was there at all was the thin wisp of smoke escaping the cigarette between his lips.

"A Dragon of Earth," Arashi growled. "We saw him following you. We didn't want a confrontation, and he doesn't seem to be in the mood. Still, you are right – this gives you little choice, and all we can do is ask you to trust us." 

"You can ask," Nibai replied softly, "but I can't promise much past that." 

"Hai, hai, we'll talk about this once we get there. You'll see, Hinoto Hime-sama is much better at this explanation thing," Sorata said, pointing out a direction. "This way, it's a bit of walk so we can catch a taxi if you want."

"Sure!" she said, suddenly brightening at the idea. Taxis were still new and fun, and she had a feeling that "new and fun" was not how she was going to describe her life in a few hours' time. 

***

"This is great, you're gonna get along just fine with everyone, I'm sure – " Sorata paused as he noticed that she was no longer paying attention to him. They'd just barely walked through the doorway to Hinoto's room; Kamui, Yuzuriha, and Karen were crowded around Hinoto herself; Souhi and Hien stood off to the side, as usual. They glanced up at the trio as they entered, but neither did nor said a thing. 

"Who's _that_?" Nibai's jaw had nearly dropped; Sorata had to fight the urge to laugh as he followed her wide-eyed gaze over to the group of people before the princess. 

"Ne? Oh, that's Kamui," he said, a note of amusement in his voice. 

She gave no sign of having heard that. Rather, she blinked and swallowed. 

"God. I'd _die_ for _him_," she whispered to herself. Sorata, standing immediately beside her, could barely hear her voice. Arashi didn't appear to have heard. 

Hinoto gasped. 

Souhi and Hien straightened immediately and approached the princess, but she held up a hand as they came towards her. 

"She's here," Hinoto's psychic voice rang softly throughout the room. Nibai blinked, caught off-guard as the words inserted themselves directly into her mind, as opposed to through her ears. 

Souhi and Hien glanced up and beckoned the group near the door over. Sorata gave Nibai a small shove and he and Arashi trailed her as she walked towards the platform on which Hinoto sat. Nibai was blinking and visibly making an effort to train her attention on the princess. It was almost funny, in a sad sort of way, Sorata realized. Because – 

Nibai didn't even _know_. She didn't know that she was his twin, that her fate… was the same as his. A feeling of cold dread suddenly settled in his stomach, as he realized that she hadn't even meant what she'd said a moment ago literally.

He shook those thoughts away as they stopped before Hinoto; she looked up at Nibai, almost as if she could actually see her. Blind eyes traveled over the girl as if they could see. Beside them, Kamui, Yuzuriha, and Karen were looking at her as well. 

Nibai stood beside him, having torn her eyes away from Kamui. She was now looking at Hinoto; after a moment she bowed, her long black hair falling over her shoulders to hide her face momentarily. 

"I'm Imagawa Nibai. They tell me," she jerked a hand over in Sorata and Arashi's direction, "that I'm here to help you."


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I can't even hold a candle to CLAMP's greatness. Therefore, these lovely characters are obviously not mine. Except Nibai. ;)

Twin Star

Part 4

Kamui was _gorgeous_. There was no other way to describe it, she thought dumbly, even as she'd turned to face Hinoto – their Dreamwatcher – and bow to her. Kamui was _gorgeous_…

"Welcome," the princess said, also inclining her head slightly. "You can indeed help us. I would like to show you how." Nibai nodded, as her eyes were inexplicably drawn to Hinoto's porcelain features. 

She took one breath and fell into Hinoto's pupil-less gaze.

The world around her shifted and changed; she was suddenly standing beneath the Tokyo Tower, the nighttime sky glowing blue-velvet above her. She glanced around and gasped – although the Tower stood unscathed, the same could not be said for the rest of the city. All around her, the buildings lay in ruin, crumbled and torn. 

"This is the final battle," Hinoto's voice sounded behind her. Nibai whirled around, staring at the princess, floating encased in a clear bubble not two feet from her. Her blind eyes surveyed the scene before turning back to Nibai. "This is the fate of Tokyo – this is the fate of Kamui. Look." The princess pointed a delicate finger at the Tower; Nibai turned to look and saw two figures standing high atop the observation deck. They were too hard to make out from here... 

And suddenly she could see them clearly. Kamui. And someone else, someone taller, stronger, smiling as he surveyed his opponent. Dragons made of lightning danced and twisted in the sky, arcing over Tokyo in a deadly dance. Twin swords clashed, as twin stars fought for the last kekkai in Tokyo – 

Nibai gasped as the scene disappeared. She was left in darkness, staring at Hinoto floating before her. 

"What -?" 

"The final battle," Hinoto repeated. "Kamui is the Chosen One – he alone can fight to save the city, and all of humanity." 

Nibai blinked, slowly taking this all in. "And... where do I come in, then? The stars told me – " 

"You are something we had not exactly counted on," Hinoto admitted, looking up at her. "You are our trump card – you are Sorata's twin star, destined to play a role matching his." 

"Uh-huh. And what does that mean?" Nibai asked, not quite understanding, but beginning to get a sinking feeling in her stomach, all the same. 

"You have powers," Hinoto said. 

"H-hai," Nibai agreed, feeling slightly uncomfortable at the mention of something that she had been taught to keep hidden. Yui-san had told her when she was very young and had thought them normal that no, not everyone could leap as high and fast as she could. Not everyone could create lightning and power out of need. Nibai had been frightened at first, but under the priestess's limited tutelage, she had gained some measure of control before ceasing their use entirely. Not even Miki knew about them.

It looked like she was going to have to pull out that ability quite soon.

'You are a Dragon of Heaven – your powers exist to protect and aid Kamui. You also have the power to create a kekkai of your own." 

Nibai blinked. Her own kekkai? She had heard such things could be created – shields, barriers, to protect the innocent while higher powers battled unbeknownst to the rest of the human race. Yui-san had told her about those too. But she didn't know how – 

"You will learn how," Hinoto answered her unasked question. "Sorata will teach you, it is only fitting." 

"All right," Nibai consented after a moment. "After all... I am here for this. The stars told me I had something important to do here. And…" She paused, suddenly smiling. If this _was_ destiny, really, then what could she do to counter it, anyway? No, she been brought up to see the paths that the stars laid out for each and every human that walked the Earth, and she knew better than to try and ignore those invisible lines of force that controlled more than most people ever knew. 

"It sounds like it could be interesting," she finished, eyes flashing as she realized that she might get to actually _fight battles_, like the tales Yui-san had told her when she was small…

Hinoto sighed, the smallest of sounds. "Regardless… Kamui will need all the support he can get." 

Nibai blinked. _Kamui_. Well, she was more than willing to give him all she had to offer. She felt her cheeks grow warm, and shook her head imperceptibly, forcing the heat away. This was no time to be thinking of things like that – 

"There... there is one more thing," Hinoto said softly, blind eyes looking to the floor rather than at Nibai. "I will tell you, because... nothing you can do will change your fate. You are Sorata's twin star, as I have told you –" 

"Not a bad person to be a twin star to, I'd think," Nibai said with a smile – she liked Sorata, he seemed much less... serious wasn't the word, really, but he seemed less weighed-down than the rest of these people. He seemed content – that was it. Content with what he was there to do. 

She realized that if she were going to bear any of this and not go insane, it wasn't a bad idea to be content with this path laid out for her. And already the idea was beginning to settle with her, as odd as that felt, and although she couldn't explain it, she decided not to fight it. There was no fighting fate. It seemed to call to her, tell her that this was where she belonged, and she could feel herself slowly accepting that.

"Sorata is very important to us," Hinoto agreed. "But... Sorata's fate – your fate – is not so easy to accept." 

"Well... what is it?" Nibai asked, suddenly impatient, ignoring the feeling that was still weighing down her insides – the feeling that suddenly intensified at the sound of Hinoto's voice. The despair beneath her words.

"Sorata is fated to die not for Kamui, not for the fate of the world, but for the sake of a woman. He has chosen Arashi," Hinoto said, and then went on before Nibai had a chance to absorb what she'd just said. "As his twin star, Nibai, you are fated to die for the sake of a man." 

The words sunk in, and Nibai was alone, falling through cold, dark water, without a surface to swim towards, reaching for help, knowing none would come... 

And there was only one word, one name, filling up the darkness that closed in all around her. 

_Kamui_... 

***

"Oy! Hey, Nibai-chan, you okay? Nibai-chan?"

She blinked heavy eyelids, the world slowly coming into focus and she looked up and saw Sorata hunched over her, waving one hand before her eyes. 

"Sorata?" 

"There you are!" His face brightened and he sat back on his heels, allowing her to sit up. She had a splitting headache; the room was spinning slightly, and the light seemed too bright. She put one hand to her temple, massaging it and hoping it might relieve the tension and ache there. It didn't seem to help much. 

"I am sorry, Nibai," the princess's voice came from above her, and Nibai realized that she must have collapsed in front of Hinoto's platform, here beneath the government building.

"I'm fine," she found herself saying, waving her hand slightly at the princess, although not really knowing why. Hinoto had, after all, just told her that her fate was to die for the sake of a man... 

And there was no fighting fate.

She looked up, looking for Kamui. He was standing there, looking at Hinoto with an expression somewhere between boredom and exhaustion on his face. In fact... he didn't really look well at all. Nibai got the distinct feeling that he should probably be tucked into a warm bed somewhere, sleeping peacefully instead of standing here dealing with the end of the world. 

She squashed that thought, as well as all of the protective instincts that came with it.

"Well, here," Sorata said, standing and offering his hand. She took it and levered herself up into a standing position. "Ne, Hime-sama, is there anything else you need tonight? Otherwise we should be getting Nibai-chan back to her dorm." 

"No," Hinoto replied. "I need nothing more of you tonight. Be careful," she advised them all. Souhi and Hien seemed to take some unspoken hint and moved in around the princess. Karen nodded and cast one glance at the rest before waving her goodnight and exiting. Kamui turned on his heel and strode out after her with Yuzuriha jogging to catch up. Arashi turned towards the door as well and Sorata followed her, beckoning to Nibai. 

She cast one last glance at the princess before following them out. 

"Please, Nibai," Hinoto's voice broke into her thoughts as she crossed the threshold. She stopped and turned to look back again at Hinoto. "Please, help Kamui."

There was a moment of silence before Nibai nodded and turned, heading for the elevator where the others were waiting.

She stood on the opposite side of the elevator as Kamui, all the better to steal surreptitious glances at him. He didn't seem to be paying attention anyway; he was staring at the wall, silent and introverted. Sorata was chatting happily away at Arashi, who didn't really appear to be listening. This didn't seem to bother Sorata in the least. 

"Ne, so you're here to help us?" 

Nibai looked down and saw Yuzuriha looking happily up at her. 

"Hai, I guess so," she replied, reaching back up to massage her still-aching temple again. "Sounds like a wild party to me." 

"That's great! Inuki thinks so too." 

"Inuki?" 

"Hai!" Yuzuriha nodded and glanced down – Nibai followed her gaze, and for the first time saw the huge wolf-dog sitting complacently at the girl's feet. He gazed up at her serenely, with a look that seemed to convey acceptance as well. 

"Ah," Nibai said. "He's a beautiful dog." 

"Really? You think so?" Yuzuriha's eyes lit up.

"Hai," Nibai nodded. Truthfully, although he was obviously not merely a pet, Inuki had a serene beauty to him that she had never before encountered in an animal.

"Arigato! I can tell, he already likes you." 

"Ah, well that's good," Nibai said with a small smile. She shifted her gaze and suddenly realized that Kamui was looking at her – 

There was that inadvertent rush of heat into her cheeks again; Nibai quickly stared at her feet, willing it to go away. She sighed, wondering what to make of all this, really. She wasn't depressed, really, but it was a lot to take in all at once. What she wanted most was to laugh and joke and shrug it all off, but she felt almost too tired to do even that.

Laugh and joke and shrug off fate indeed. 

But… maybe that was exactly the way to deal with it. Accept it and whatever came with it. She was bound to a path – she had known that, long ago – and now she merely knew what that path was. It was illuminated before her, a little at a time, but moreso than it had ever been before. Why not enjoy the knowledge, instead of brooding? Brooding was boring, and depressing, and she was damned if she was going to spend her time in Tokyo like that.

She smiled. Exactly. Damned if she did, damned if she didn't. So she might as well enjoy it. 

And then there was Kamui… 

The elevator came to a halt at the main level and they poured out, Yuzuriha bounding ahead, followed by Inuki. Kamui followed her silently, staring straight ahead now. Sorata trailed Arashi as Nibai followed them as well. 

"Ne, do you want us to escort you back to campus?" Sorata asked. 

"Ano..." Nibai gave his offer some thought. She decided that yes, she would like someone with her on the way back. It might give her some distraction so that she wouldn't have to think about all of this just yet... 

"Yeah," she answered. "I wouldn't mind." 

"No prob, babe!" Sorata winked and tipped his hat at her. The action made her smile even more as Arashi rolled her eyes before pointing to Yuzuriha. 

"Yuzuriha, you take Kamui home then." 

Kamui sighed, much with the air or someone who did not feel they needed to be "taken home" by a fourteen year-old. 

If she wasn't being escorted home herself, Nibai would've loved to take Kamui home.

"Hai!" Yuzuriha saluted before grabbing Kamui's wrist and veritably dragging him out the door.   
Nibai couldn't help but giggle. 

"There, I knew you'd start having some fun here!" Sorata said suddenly. "You were starting to remind me of Arashi-chan here," he placed a hand on Arashi's shoulder. 

She shook it off, glaring at him. But the look wasn't all malice, Nibai noticed. 

"I have some things to take care of," Arashi announced. "Sorata, you take Nibai back then. I'll be home later." 

"Awww... are you sure you gotta leave?" Sorata whined, winking at Nibai. She tossed him a knowing grin in return.

Arashi sighed and swept towards the door. 

Sorata shrugged, then grinned down at Nibai. He offered his elbow to her. "Well then, shall we?" 

"Hai!" she nodded, taking his arm. "We shall!" 

***

But even with Sorata's constant chatting about nothing truly important, she could only stay distracted half of the way back to CLAMP campus. 

"Ah, well, I mean, I knew that it really wouldn't be a good idea to cook the potatoes in the microwave, but – " 

"Sorata-san?" 

Sorata stopped and looked down at Nibai, who was looking much more serious suddenly. 

"Ne? What is it?" 

"I... know that we all have our fates. And I don't mind that. Like I said… this does sound like it's gonna be one wild party, " she smiled. "But…" 

She paused, focusing on the one part of this that was bothering her, the only part that she was really finding it hard to accept. Fighting for humanity, that was easy, there were tales about that and, well, if the end of the world was near, she was definitely glad to have a say in it. But the things she didn't have a say in… 

She sighed. "Your fate. _Our_ fate. That part… Doesn't sit too well with me." 

"That. Yeah." he shrugged. "Well... Can't say I blame you. I mean, it's not like it doesn't bother me at _all, _but really… I suppose it's just that I've known about it all my life. And I know better than to say 'no' to destiny, ya know?"

She nodded. "I know that much, yeah," she said, a wan smile crossing her lips.

"So hey, I decided the moment I knew, that if I was gonna die for a woman, then she had better be hot babe. And Arashi ain't half bad, ne?" He grinned down at her. 

She laughed a little at that. "No, I guess she's not." 

"Nope! She sure ain't." He paused. "So Hinoto told you... about your fate, then?" 

Nibai nodded. 

Another pause. 

"I heard what you said about Kamui." 

Nibai stared up at him. "You....?" 

He looked sheepish. "Gomen, gomen, but I just overheard. I know you didn't mean it literally, of course, but… I don't think it's a bad idea, really – I mean, I'd give my life to protect him if I could. I'm sworn to him first." His eyes had lost their boyish glint and had turned much darker, more serious. Even his voice had a grave note behind it. 

"I'm a Dragon of Heaven, and I fully intend to do everything I can to back Kamui up. You should, too," he said, looking down at Nibai. Suddenly the mischief was back in his eyes. "And hey, if you get somethin' good out of it as a side effect, well, no complaining there, ne? And, well, I'll tell ya," he said, elbowing her lightly in the side, "That boy could use it." 

Nibai though about this for a moment. About what the stars had told her – about what her _heart_ had told her, for as long as she could remember. That she was born for something important. And that nothing could change that path. She knew that. And she knew better than to oppose destiny, even if she didn't always like it.

And somehow... she was all right with that. 

And, well, there _was_ Kamui…

She smiled up at Sorata. "Hai. That wouldn't be so bad, I don't think." 

"Hah!" Sorata laughed and clapped her on the back. "That look suits you much better, I think." 

"Does it now?" she asked slyly.

He nodded. "It's hard being serious all the time, you know? It's no fun." 

"You got that right," she said, nodding. "No fun at all."

"Somehow... I think we're more alike than just our fates," Sorata grinned. "Hm... you up for a game or two before we call it a night? I know this great little arcade just two blocks over..." 

"Sounds like a good idea to me!" 


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Kamui may be my pillow, but I don't own him. 

Twin Star

Part 5

Kamui felt uneasy. More than that, really – he felt annoyed. Of course, it was hard for him to feel much else right now, although if he didn't concentrate hard enough, some of the fear would start to leak in. And he didn't want to deal with that, knew he couldn't deal with that, so he concentrated on feeling annoyed. 

Because that girl had looked at him like he was a piece of meat.

He sighed. All right, he told himself, she hadn't _really_ been looking at him like that. But something about the way she _had_ been looking at him had struck something in him that had left him feeling completely exposed. And he couldn't say _why_. 

He remembered being called, Hinoto's telepathic voice echoing through his head, at once explaining why Arashi and Sorata had left the house that afternoon. Kamui hadn't particularly cared why they'd left, but Hinoto hadn't cared about what _he_ thought, merely inserted knowledge into his mind via her damned telepathic dream images, and then called him to her room beneath the Diet Building. Yuzuriha had appeared at his door a moment later, knocking tentatively, Inuki sitting alert at her feet. And Kamui had had no choice but to join her. 

Karen had been there too, when they'd arrived, but neither Aoki nor Subaru had appeared. Kamui hadn't cared about that either. He'd merely stood, half-attentive, as Karen and Hinoto spoke, unaware of the subject of their conversation until suddenly the soft voice had rung throughout his head. 

"Kamui." 

He'd blinked and turned to the princess, his arms crossed, trying to show her that he didn't care about whatever it was that she'd seen, that he just wanted her to leave him the hell alone. But she hadn't taken notice, merely looked up at him with her hauntingly blank eyes. 

"You haven't been listening," she'd said. He'd rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Kamui, something very important has happened." 

A vision had invaded his mind then, of space and time and in the center of it all, the big dipper, shining brightly. He'd squinted at the stars, confused, for he had always thought there were only seven stars to its name, seven points of light arcing across the sky, marking the tail of the bear. 

But there, beneath the second star, was a tinier point of light. It seemed a part of the first, but had separated itself enough to shine on its own. 

"There are eight stars in the big dipper, Kamui," Hinoto's voice had told him, as he lurched nauseatingly back into reality and stared at her. "There are eight stars," she went on, speaking now to both Yuzuriha and Karen as well as himself, "and there are eight Seals."   
Yuzuriha had blinked, then gasped. "We have eight Seals?"   
"Yes," Hinoto had replied. "There are eight; the eighth is the twin star of Mizar, the eighth Seal is a twin of our own."  
"Whose star is it?" Karen had asked, voice smooth and calm and Kamui fleetingly wondered what other uses her voice would be put to before the night was over. He didn't hate Karen – not at all, no more than any of the others around him who'd foolishly sworn allegiance to him – but right then he'd not been in a particularly good mood to begin with. 

"The eighth Seal is the twin star to Sorata," Hinoto had said. "A female twin to match him and balance him –" 

She'd stopped, gasping, as Kamui heard sounds coming from the door. And he'd looked over to see Sorata and Arashi entering, leading behind them a girl who looked partly confused, partly strangely calm, dressed in a CLAMP School uniform, long black hair swaying about her waist as she took in her surroundings. She looked like she couldn't be much older than him, but she certainly wasn't much younger, either. 

And her dark eyes had been trained on nothing else but him. 

He sighed, now back in his room, sitting at his desk, and lowered his forehead to meet his hands, elbows propped on his desk. His head was pounding, and he didn't want to think any more tonight. He had school in the morning, and these damned Dragons and their Apocalypse were interfering with his schoolwork, to say the least. 

He laughed bitterly to himself. As if he had ever really cared about his schoolwork. 

The image of dark eyes swarm through his mind again, and he shook his head, forcing them away into the mist of his thoughts. 

No, she hadn't looked at him like he was a piece of meat. 

Closing his eyes, he remembered a night, that somehow seemed so long ago and yet so clear that it could have been yesterday, all at the same time. He remembered the feel of the sword, of the glass through his palms, and he remembered Fuuma's warm body pressed perversely against his. He remembered Fuuma's tongue, lapping up the blood that he himself was responsible for, licking it gently from Kamui's neck. 

No, Nibai hadn't looked at him like he was a piece of meat. 

But that night, Fuuma had. 

***

She had resolved to take this all in stride, as difficult as that was, and to go on with her life. To work on her homework like a good girl, to not dwell on that last bit of her fate like it was the end-all of everything, because she knew that if she thought like that then the rest of her life – however much of it she _did_ have left – would have no meaning. And she most certainly didn't want _that_. 

She tried not to miss Miki; it was hard, but with the new challenge before her now, she at least had other things to keep her mind otherwise occupied. Things like Kamui. 

But Kamui, however, was not very responsive. It was positively annoying – she could see him, visibly in pain, and yet he refused to accept any help. From anyone. She rarely got the chance to speak to him, odd as that was, although she ended up spending quite a bit of time after classes at the enormous house that the chairman of CLAMP School had provided for the Dragons of Heaven. She would eat meals with them, keeping up to date on the motions of the Dragons of Earth. She had learned, over the course of the past few days, the names of the Dragons that opposed them, as well as anything Hinoto or her fellow Seals knew about them. They were an interesting lot, to say the least, and she still wasn't quite sure what she would do if she ended up face-to-face with any of them just yet. Of course, she realized now that she already _had_, recalling her brief encounter with who she now knew was Sakurazuka Seishirou that day in Ueno park. But she still didn't know what she would do if, rather than vacating the area, she had to make a stand. But she also understood the school and its grounds to be fairly well-guarded, so at least she probably wouldn't have to worry about that just yet.

Kamui was also attending CLAMP School, after having transferred there himself recently, and they were actually in a few of the same classes. She hadn't really had an extensive education – the high school in her home town was rather plain. CLAMP School was positively _huge_ compared with what she was used to, and yet she found herself able to slip into the flow of the student body rather easily. 

And it turned out to be an incredibly good idea to have her "watch" Kamui while she was at school – it cut down on the other Dragons of Heaven having to loiter about the grounds, for which Sorata was infinitely glad. Apparently he was the one given the job the most often. 

"Oh, it's not like the CLAMP campus isn't great or anything," he said over dinner, bolting his food as though he'd never eaten before and didn't expect to ever again, "but I mean, there's only so many times you can wander that library. It gets boring, even when the staff all know you're _supposed_ to be there and aren't trying to throw you out." 

"Perhaps we should get them to attempt to throw you out, then," Arashi muttered, eyeing his table manners – or lack thereof – with distaste. "It will give you an excuse to stay alert." 

Nibai laughed as Sorata shot her a sort of sad puppy dog look. Even Yuzuriha began to laugh at that. 

Kamui remained silent, picking at his meal. 

Nibai sighed as she watched him, almost wishing that she could _do_ something to make him stop hurting. Or at least to help him deal with it. But she knew that she was hopeless with such things – she'd never been what Yui-san would have even begun to refer to as tactful, and she knew that it would probably hurt Kamui more than help him, were she to try and confront him about it. 

But still, all the same, he didn't have to be so damned unresponsive.

She'd heard – seen – the story from Hinoto, when she'd gone back the next day. She'd sat before the princess, legs crossed, and stared into her depthless eyes, only to fall flailing into something she could never have imagined… 

"There are things that I cannot tell you – things it is much easier to merely show you." Hinoto's voice echoed all around her, and although this place seemed an endless expanse of darkness, the sound assaulted her as if thrown from walls, ceiling, and floor. 

"Do you agree to this?" the princess asked. 

Nibai cringed. If Hinoto was asking if she _agreed_ to this… what was she going to be shown? But she really had no choice – if she was going to be helpful at all, she needed to know. Needed to know what was happening, and why – if there really was a _why _involved at all here – and this seemed to be the best way to do things. She hoped. 

"Yes." 

And it began. She hurtled through so many images, so many memories that she was afraid she would be sick – her stomach lurched as the landscape changed again and again, with no warning… 

An operating room, blood everywhere, two children and a father left alone.. 

A sword, sacred, protected, stolen, a death in its wake… 

A fire, a prophecy, more death, more swords… 

Betrayal, confusion, fear and sadness and loss at the death of a childhood friend – one of too few friends… 

Feathers, obscuring her vision, blowing around her until she was lost in a storm of white, then falling, falling, towards the bottom of the world and there was Kamui, alone and lost, trapped beneath the weight of a sword he couldn't wield and the pair of midnight black wings, leathery yet infinitely fragile, extended above his head – 

Nibai gasped, coming to her senses, still seated before Hinoto, blinking as the real world came back into focus. There were so many things swimming through her mind, images and sounds, but above all stood Kamui, trapped and lost and sad beyond her comprehension. 

"You see why we must help him," Hinoto said softly. 

"Hell yes. That boy needs help," Nibai said, but her voice sounded shaky and weak, even to her. 

"You still agree to protect him, then?" 

Nibai swallowed, then nodded. She wanted – no, _needed_ to help this boy. She felt it. She felt it and was more sure of it than anything else in her life until this moment. She needed to help Kamui. 

"Yeah," she said, for Hinoto had not seen her nod. "Yeah, I think I'd better stick around." 

And yet, she'd barely ever been alone with the boy. He certainly wasn't easy to talk to – he tended to just look away or mumble one-syllable responses when confronted, and it was enough to drive her mad. She understood what he had gone through – at least, she _thought_ she could begin to understand a little of it. She honestly couldn't even begin to imagine what he felt like but she could, for a moment, put herself in his shoes and try to make sense of it all. And it didn't. 

It didn't make sense in exactly the same way that what Hinoto had told her the first day didn't make sense. That no matter what she did, she was fated to die for the sake of a man. And that no matter how she tried to fight it… That was what the stars whispered to her at night, even separated by the layers of cloud and smog and light here in the middle of Tokyo. They still whispered to her in her dreams, of things to come, of paths she must walk, of a fate she must accept. 

Well, she was trying to accept it, but the one thing that she thought might make that easier was not being very cooperative.

Sorata finished his meal first – small wonder – and dumped the plates in the sink, ignoring the look Arashi gave him. 

"Well, gotta run, got some stuff to take care of. Be good kids," he winked to Nibai, Yuzuriha, and Kamui, "and I'll see _you_ later, cutie." He grinned at Arashi, who sighed and waved him out the door. He grinned, and was gone. 

"I'm not hungry," Kamui announced flatly, standing up and depositing his plate on the counter. He trudged soundlessly into the room that was "his", closing the door – not quite slamming it, but in a quiet way that got the same idea across – behind him. 

Nibai sighed and hung her head. This had become the norm, over the past few days – yet another thing that was bugging the hell out of her. When she looked up, Yuzuriha was picking at her food, decidedly less genki, and Arashi was staring out the window, looking slightly preoccupied. 

"Leave it to Sorata to leave the room speechless," she said, in an effort to lighten the mood. "Ne, Yuzuriha, howabout we go get some ice cream?" 

Yuzuriha perked up at that, her eyes sparkling with interest. "Really?" 

Nibai shrugged. "You mind, Arashi?"   
"Not at all," she answered, looking down to Nibai from across the table.

"Great!" Nibai stood and cleared her plate as Yuzuriha followed suit. "Meet me by the door," Nibai told her, before heading in the direction of Kamui's room. She stopped outside the door, pausing a moment before she knocked, softly. 

"Ne, Kamui, we're going to get some ice cream. I don't suppose –" 

"No," was the firm response from behind the door. 

"Ne, Kamui, come on, you can't –" 

"No." 

She paused. "You're sure?" 

"I'm sure." 

She sighed. "All right. You'd better not kill me if I bring some back for you then," she said, and left before he could even respond.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Nope, X isn't mine. Still belongs to CLAMP and their sakura blossoms. ^^;

Twin Star

Part 6

            Kamui stared at the cup of melting ice cream before him, sitting in a small pool of condensation on his desk. Outside the window cicadas buzzed happily away, greeting the fall of dusk with enthusiasm even as he wished their noise might drown out the static in his head. 

            He leaned forward, picking up the spoon absently and lifting it, studying the plastic utensil in the dying twilight leaking in through his window. A bit of chocolate ice cream fell from it, plopping into the cup below as he brought the spoon to his mouth and tried what was left. 

            He hadn't had chocolate in… he didn't know how long. 

            That damned Nibai, he thought, banging down his door with her damned ice cream, depositing it purposefully into his hands and grinning like an idiot. 

            "It'll make you feel better!" she'd said cheerfully – he couldn't tell if it was forced or not, he was no good at such guessing games – and patted him quickly on the head, something flashing through her eyes for an instant before it was gone. "Now eat." 

            And she'd swept out of the room, her long black hair the last thing to disappear out his door before she closed it behind her.

            The _last thing he needed was this __girl insisting on what was good for him, he though sourly, dipping the spoon back into the cup and coming up with another mouthful of chocolate. She didn't know what was good for him – no one here did, because what would be _good_ for him would entail leaving him the hell alone and shutting up about all of this destiny crap. All these fanatics following him around day after day were most certainly _not_ good for him. _

            He chewed thoughtfully on the plastic spoon, gazing out the window as the sky went from rose to blue to black. 

            He sighed and dug the spoon back through the cup of soggy ice cream. 

            The last thing he need was this girl hitting on him the way Sorata hit on Arashii. That was exactly what he _didn't_ need. 

            He just needed to find a way to tell her that. 

            The spoon scraped the bottom of the cup and he looked down, absently noticing that he had no more ice cream left. 

                                                *                      *                      *

            "So just concentrate on something you want to protect," Sorata finished, leaning against the back door and gazing at Nibai sitting on the low brick wall running around the house in the back. 

            "Hm," she hummed, turning over what he had just told her in her mind, trying to figure out a few ideas and feelings and… 

            "When you get it right, it should look like this," he said, pushing away from the door and walking out until he was in the center of the yard. He brought his hands up before him, fists and eyes closed, as a look of concentration washed onto his features. She watched, trying to watch _him_, feel him and discern what he was doing… 

            The air felt different. It was a small effect at first, and centered around Sorata, but it grew – the feeling of being boxed in, of being captured and compressed as the breeze that had been ruffling the tree leaves died out. 

            There was a light now – a visible glow encompassing his hands, and as he opened them slowly it grew, encompassing first him and then the space around him, a "box" of trapped air and space and time that expanded until it contained not only the house but the entire block, as far as she could see, and probably more than that. The color had gone flat and dim, the air stale and the breeze gone – he had effectively encompassed them in a space that _was and yet _wasn't_, a kekkai in which a battle would not affect the outside world. _

            Unless the creator died. 

            She blinked and shook her head slightly, as he grinned at her from his spot a few yards away. 

            "There ya go. Any questions?" 

            She laughed. "Nope… other than how many tries did it take you to _get that?" _

            He returned her laugh even as the box around them began to shrink, slowly folding in on itself until it sat in the palm of his hand… and was gone. The breeze jumped up around them again, feeling almost annoyed at having been disturbed, and the velvety blue-black of the post-dusk sky shone overhead with a new clarity. 

            "Only a couple hundred," he replied with a wink. "Go ahead, give it a shot." 

            She sighed and hopped down, stepping out onto the lawn and stopped a few feet away from him. She closed her eyes, feeling a bit silly, and tried to clear her mind. 

            It was hard, with the stars singing down at her. But eventually all else began to fall away; the breeze, the ground, the air, the sky. All that remained was the quiet song of the stars, a sort of background noise in her mind now, and a single image, locked in the forefront of her thoughts. 

            Kamui. 

            _"Just concentrate on something you want to protect,_"_ he'd said. He had explained to her how the kekkais were created, how they were fed by the creator's desire to protect someone or something that they loved, prized more than anything. Fueled by an almost-desperation. A need. _

            Kamui. 

            She could see him standing there, alone and lost and she wanted nothing more in the world than to protect him from all of that – 

            She felt strange. Her hands felt hot – she unclenched fists she'd forgotten she had made, and the heat spread out until it had covered her whole body, and the air around her, and – 

            "Ne, that's pretty good there, Nibai-san!" She heard Sorata – his voice cut into her silent world like a knife and she dropped it – all the heat rushed back into her in an instant and she gasped, her eyes flying open as she lost her balance. 

            She fell, but didn't hit the ground – Sorata caught her before she could hit and steadied her, looking sheepish. 

            "Sorry about that," he said, helping her over to the wall again so she could lean on it. She still felt odd, but her balance was coming back quickly and she was able to stand not long after. 

            "Nice first try though, I think you got it down," he said, as she took a few deep breaths. "I'd say you'd get the whole thing next time… if I'd quit yappin' at ya." He rubbed the back of his neck, still looking sheepish. 

            She waved her hand at him, dismissing it. "Nah, don't worry about it. I'm going to have to be able to do this in the middle of battle anyway, right?" 

            "That is the idea," Sorata admitted. "But that _is_ odd…" He rubbed the back of his neck thoughtfully and gazed at her a moment. 

            "Ne? What's odd?" 

            "Oh, nothing," he said, hand dropping back to his side. "Just that… well, the way these things usually work, each person's kekkai usually manifests in a shape unique to them." 

            "Oh?" 

            "Mm-hm." He nodded. "But yours… well, yours and mine are the same shape. Fuuny, ne?"   
            She thought a moment, wondering what it meant. But they _were_ twin stars, were they not? Maybe it was just another strand running from him to her. Or from her to him – this was often a chicken-and-egg situation, leaving her to wonder if _she_ was like him, or if _he_ was like her. 

            Or maybe that wasn't the case at all, and maybe they were two parts of the same thing, and neither any more or less like the original than the other. 

            It made her head spin, just thinking about it. 

            "Hai," she replied, shaking off her thoughts and turning her attention back to Sorata before her. "But what are we, if not funny?" 

            He grinned at her. 

            "Not much, I'll tell you that!" 

            She looked up at him as they both broke out into laughter – and froze as she caught sight of the curtain falling back into place in Kamui's window.

                                                *                      *                      *

            "I hate this," Nibai groaned, leaning over and resting her forehead on the kitchen table where she couldn't see the accursed homework. Geometry was _not her subject. She hadn't taken it yet back in her old high school, and so she'd been thrown into the class here upon enrollment and was slowly falling behind, much to her dismay. She knew she was no genius, but this _really_ was not her thing. _

            She sighed and sat up again, eyeing the worksheet with some distaste. She picked up her pencil and began writing again, only to give up moments later. This was not going well. She resorted to tapping out rhythms on the table as she thought; perhaps it would help, probably not, but at least it kept her from being bored – 

            "What are you doing?" 

            She started and looked up, dropping her pencil as she realized Kamui had come into the kitchen and was eyeing her as if she were crazy. She felt a blush begin to rise, but willed her cheeks to cool as she bent over to retrieve the fallen pencil. 

            "Geometry homework," she replied as she came up from beneath the table, peeking beneath a curtain of hair to see Kamui filling a glass with water. 

            He eyed her skeptically. "Like that?" 

            She did blush at that. "Er… well I'm no good at this stuff." She shook her hair back over her shoulders and made a disgusted face at the papers. 

            Oddly enough, he came over and glanced halfheartedly at the worksheets. "You can't do proofs?" He sounded as doubtful as he looked. 

            "Oh, give me a break! Look, I don't know what they teach in _your fancy schools, sir, but in my backwater little school we hadn't gotten to this yet!" She stuck out her tongue and resorted to lounging back in her chair, pulling her hair away from her face for a moment before letting it fall around her shoulders again and sighing. She cast a glance up at him, expecting him to be leaving, but instead he was looking at her, some of the skepticism draining from his face for a second. _

            "Ne, what is it?" 

            The skepticism was back, but again instead of leaving as she expected, he set the glass of water down on the table. 

            "You're doing them wrong," he said flatly, sitting down and taking her pencil. "You can't start with this, you don't know this statement is true." 

            She blinked, as disbelieving as he'd sounded a moment ago, staring at him as he began erasing her messy handwriting. His hands looked so delicate, his motions were so deliberate… Something caught the light – a rut of lighter skin running the length of his hand. What was that…? She studied his hand, looking at the back of it, trying to see the mark more clearly – 

            "You should start this – look, do you want help or not?" 

            She blinked again, jerking out of her stupor and the blush that felt like it had just drained from her cheeks began again with a fervor. 

            "Yeah, yeah, I'm listening. Thanks," she said, attempting to turn her attention to the paper and _not_ stare at him as he began her math problem anew. 

            He said nothing in response, only continued explaining things until they began to fall into place, like pieces to a puzzle that she only hadn't known how to look at correctly.

                                                *                      *                      *

            "Ne, Kamui, can I talk to you?" Sorata rapped softly on the wooden door, only half-expecting to get a reply. It was late, he realized, but he sincerely doubted that Kamui was sleeping. With the way the boy looked most of the time, Sorata was beginning to doubt if the boy _ever_ slept. 

            Well, that wasn't true – he knew that Kamui slept, but it was at odd intervals, and it was never _true_ sleep. It was a fitful, dream-wrought sleep that brought no respite. Sorata knew something of that, although he was glad he could say that it was not a habit for him. It seemed to be one for Kamui, however, and that was a bit worrying… 

            He was unexpectedly rewarded as the door opened and Kamui stood there, fixing him with a dulled golden gaze and a flat expression. 

            "I'll take that as a yes," Sorata said, leaning on the doorway and sticking his foot into the frame, lest Kamui decide to slam the door in his face. Kamui glanced down at Sorata's foot, then back up into his face. 

            "Hey, hey, I promise it won't hurt," Sorata grinned. "Much." 

            Kamui didn't seem to find this amusing; Sorata sighed. The boy didn't seem to find much amusing at all, these days. He doubted if Kamui had _ever found anything amusing, really… _

            But that wasn't the point right now. The point right now, was to fix that. 

            "So," the monk began, crossing his arms over his chest so he could fit his shoulder into the doorframe more comfortably, "I just wanted to see how you were liking school. Made any new friends?"

            Kamui blinked, as if not comprehending the question. Finally, after a moment, he spoke. 

            "Keiichi-kun," he offered, but said nothing more. 

            Well, it was a start. Sorata knew, in fact, from watching Kamui at school occasionally, that there _was_ indeed a Keiichi that had seemed to attach himself to Kamui, attempting to establish a friendship even as Kamui attempted to go through school as a loner. 

            "Good then. Glad to know you're making friends." 

            "That's not what this is about," Kamui said flatly, looking up at Sorata with a gaze that was both piercing and dull at the same time. 

            "Hey, don't bite my head off about it," Sorata said, holding up his hands in mock-defense. "But you're right," he continued, folding his arms again and gazing intently down at the younger boy. "It's not. I actually wanted to ask you… what you thought of Nibai-chan." He grinned down at Kamui and watched him carefully for a reaction. 

            He got something – _something _passed through those golden eyes, but it was fast and fleeting. But it _was there. And that only made Sorata grin wider. _

            "Ne, ne, she's a babe, isn't she?" 

            Kamui looked up at him and said nothing. 

            "And she's awfully nice, isn't she?" 

            Nothing. 

            "And I know you're looking at her." 

            _That got him something – Kamui started, the slightest bit, his entire body tensing as he opened his mouth to protest. _

            All he got, however, was a flatly-stated, "I am _not_ looking at her." 

            Sorata laughed, shifting so he was no longer leaning in the doorway. 

            "Aww, you like her, come on, admit it. You can tell me, Kamui – I won't tell anyone, honest." Sorata continued egging the boy on, wondering just how much he _could get out of him. _

            But Kamui apparently had himself under control again, for he was met with silence once more. 

            Time for another tactic. "I saw you helping her with her homework," Sorata said, voice low and suggestive. Kamui couldn't deny _that_ – 

            "She'll throw off the class curve if she does badly." 

            Sorata veritably stared at the boy – he had _never_ seen someone so adept at wrapping themselves up in denial. Kamui certainly took first place in that category. It was so sad it was almost funny, he thought to himself.

            "Ne, come on, you can't tell me there's _nothing_ you like about her. _Nothing_ that catches your eye? _Nothing_?" Sorata grinned. 

            Silence. 

            Then… 

            "Her… hair," Kamui whispered, so softly that Sorata wasn't even sure he'd heard him right, almost wasn't sure he'd even said anything at all. He looked at Kamui, searching his face for any signs that might indicate whether or not he'd actually spoken, but he could find nothing but the same look of dull detachment. 

            And then the door slammed in his face. 

            He looked down; damn it, he'd taken his foot out of the way when he'd shifted positions. Oh well. He gave a slight shrug, meant for nothing in particular, and waltzed back down the hall, grinning to himself. 


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Even though I bought all the DVDs and even the movie, still not mine. ^^;;

Twin Star

Part 7

            It was dark where she was - very dark, so that she could barely make out the outline of her hand when she held it in front of her face. She blinked, as if her vision might clear, but to no avail. 

            This place felt... empty. It felt like nothingness, like she was the only person there and had been the only person _ever_ there, would be the only person to ever _be_ there. It was lonely, and she wanted someone else. 

            And then there _was_ someone else, someone watching her, a shadow in a dark coat with one dark eye, one light, and she shivered under his gaze and her chest began to sting. She didn't want to be here anymore, under his gaze.

            She began to run - she didn't know where she was running _to_, she couldn't see three inches in front of her face, but that wasn't stopping her now. Every step she took, she heard water splashing - she was running through puddles, across an endless expanse of puddle, the only sound in this place save her breathing, louder than her heartbeat in her ears. 

            She reached out, wishing for someone - anyone - to come, to save her, to take her away –

            Wings. Before her, the sound – the sight – of wings, unfolding into the darkness. A red scarf, blowing in some unfelt wind, entangled in the wings of the angel who stood before her. Feathers streamed past her face as she looked up and saw – 

            Kamui. Kamui, standing there before her, golden eyes glinting with some light she had never seen in them before. Smiling a wicked little smile that chilled her to the bone, that seemed somehow _wrong_ on his face – 

            "Kamui!" She called out to him, running faster. He reached out a hand for her and she ran, trying to reach him – 

            And she tripped. And she fell. Right through the puddle; her world suddenly turned itself upside-down and she was dizzy, falling out of the sky, fighting down nausea – 

            Until she connected with something very solid. A person – a person's chest, rather, clothed in a simple black school uniform. 

            Kamui's uniform. Her hands were bleeding, they were leaving deep red marks barely visible on the black cloth.

            She looked up. 

            Kamui. Kamui, looking down at her with such immense hurt and desperation in his eyes that she wanted nothing more in the world than to take him and hold him and tell him everything would be all right. Kamui, whose enormous black wings came to enclose her now, shutting the darkness out and leaving them encase in their own little world – 

            Nibai woke with a start, sitting straight up in bed and feeling her heart pounding. She shook her head slightly, as if to clear it, and raised her hands in front of her face in the moonlight. They were unwounded and clean; she sighed and lowered them to her lap, even as they still felt of blood, slick and sliding down her palms. 

            She'd been having dreams like this ever since she'd arrived in Tokyo; she couldn't really figure out what they meant, other than her unconscious mind latching onto Kamui. She had to laugh a little at that – they were hardly the fantasies most people dreamed about when they liked someone. But then again, their situation was hardly a normal one.

            Still, it was only a dream. And she was not a Dreamgazer; thus, it probably meant nothing. And so, despite the strange feeling still churning in her stomach, she was able to lie back down and eventually fall back into sleep once more.

                                                *                       *                       *

            "So. Are you just going to sit over there all day looking pissy, or could you possibly lower your gracious self to talking to me?" 

            He gave her the oddest look, somewhere between shock and outrage, as she giggled to herself at how odd the expression looked coming from him. His mouth opened, but it seemed to take him a moment to form words. 

            "… What?" was all he could say, when he finally did form sound. 

            "Well… you've been sitting over there all day, being your lonesome little pissy self, and I've been sitting over here, bored to tears. We're both doing the same homework. We could at least compare answers or something." 

            He sighed suddenly, and dropped his forehead onto his hand, propping his elbows on the table. "Were that I had answers to compare," he said, letting his pencil fall to the table with a quiet _click_. The CLAMP School library was mostly deserted, and would have been a good place to get some of their work done, had they actually been able to _do it. _

            She laughed. "Oh great, me too. I was hoping _you_ had some." She put her own pencil down and rocked the chair back onto two legs, folding her hands behind her head and staring at the ceiling. "Now we're both screwed." 

            "You're going to fall," came his muffled voice, directed more at the table than at her. 

            "Ne?" she asked, looking over at him – and losing her balance, crashing to the floor. Bright spots suddenly superimposed themselves on her vision, as a sharp pain began working its way up from her shoulders to her skull.

            She blinked up, stunned, and suddenly Kamui was standing over her, a look of almost-amusement on his face of otherwise pale stone, extending a hand towards her as she tried to regain her senses. 

            "I said, 'you're going to fall,'" he repeated, even as she felt herself begin to blush and took his hand, using it to lever herself up into a standing position. She wouldn'tve thought he weighed any more than she did – if at all, he looked so frail – but his grip was rock-steady and he showed no signs of trouble at all in hoisting her to her feet. 

            "Guess it's a little late for that, ne?" she asked, rubbing the back of her head both in embarrassment and to try to ease the pain beginning to set in there. Over to the right, one of the librarians had stopped what she was doing and was giving them a stern look; after a moment, however, she went back to her work.

            "Seems that way," was the even reply, as he went back to his own chair next to hers. She righted her own chair and sat down again, still rubbing the back of her neck and now picking up her pencil, tapping it against the polished tabletop.

            Silence fell once more, and it was so uncomfortable again that she had no choice but to break it a second time. 

            "So… no answers, then?" she asked, sliding her gaze to the boy next to her.

            He was still staring at the homework laid out before him; his pencil still sat on the table.

            "No answers," he echoed. 

            "Maybe we should go ask Keiichi-kun," she suggested. It was only mid-afternoon, after all, and Keiichi was sure to be bouncing about somewhere near. He'd offered to help her with homework before, and she was sure he'd extended that same offer to Kamui at some point as well. He seemed like the type of person who would do so. 

            And at this point, she didn't think she'd mind asking someone for help. Especially not someone who was willing to _talk_ to her, instead of just sitting there like a self-perpetuating angst ball. 

            She needed to do _something_. 

            "You can if you want," he was saying, not looking at her, speaking to the papers before him. 

            She sighed loudly and propped her chin up on her hands, elbows on the table as she gave him a sideways glance. "Not if you're not going." 

            He looked at her but said nothing. 

            She sighed again. She _really_ needed to do something. This was driving her crazy. And she had a feeling, deep down, that it was probably driving Kamui crazy as well. 

            "Look," she said, turning to face him more fully; her words brought his gaze away from the table finally as he looked up at her. "This is… well, it's stupid, for one thing." 

            He blinked, uncomprehending. "What's stupid?" 

            "You are!" she burst out, before looking around the mostly-abandoned library and hushing her voice. As if she hadn't already gotten enough stares by overturning her chair. "This is stupid and it's got to stop, Kamui. I can't watch you do this to yourself." 

            He was still looking at her, expression confused, as if she were speaking a completely foreign language. How thick could the boy be? So he'd been through a lot – she understood that, but she only wanted to help – she'd only wanted to help from the moment she'd laid eyes on him. She'd wanted to take him and wipe that look off his face, put almost any other expression there and leave the perpetual façade of uncaring emptiness to the confines of a long-forgotten memory. 

            And how the hell was she supposed to tell him – _Kamui_ – this?

            "Look, I know Sorata pledged his allegiance to you," she went on. "He told me it's one of the most important things in his life. So… as his twin, I'm here to do the same, to do whatever I can, because I want to help you. Kamui… " Her voice fell silent for a moment, as she realized what she was about to say and just how completely she meant it. But she knew that it was her destiny, moreso than for the other Dragons, and she wasn't sure if Kamui knew. And she thought he should. 

            "Kamui," she whispered, "I exist to serve _you_. In… in any way. In every way. And I want to protect you. I want to help you. So let me, all right? And smile while you're at it, ne?" She let out a nervous laugh aware of how completely stupid and gushy this all sounded, and wishing very much that she hadn't just spoken those words. Because if he hadn't spoken to her before… he sure as hell probably wasn't going to start _now. _

            _Way to go, she chided herself. __I'm sure that__ helped… _

            He stood, abruptly, his chair scraping against the floor and she started, looking up at him. 

            "Let's go outside," was all he said, and she barely had time to collect her wits and follow him before he was headed for the door and then out of it. 

            He led her to one of the many benches just outside the library; the sidewalks crisscrossing the campus were mostly empty today. Most of the students were gone for the weekend, off doing something much more carefree than guarding the one who held the power of God in his hands. 

            Then again, she though to herself, life would be much less interesting if she _weren't sitting there guarding him. _

            If she weren't staring at him, afraid that he would never speak to her with anything other than orders again. 

            "Oh, this really is stupid," she said, as soon as she'd sat down beside him on the bench, hidden from the soft sunlight beneath the leaves of the trees towering above them. "Forget it, all of it, and just let me help you with your homework. That'd be much –" 

            "I _won't forget it," he said, almost coldly, and she stared at him, pierced to the heart with the ice in his voice. _

            She sighed, not letting any of that show, trying not to let it get to her. Letting her acceptance wash over the ice and warm it to water so that it flowed away from the wound. 

            "There are too many people," he murmured, almost to himself, "Too many people who have given so much for me. Who have sworn allegiance to me. Who have given their _lives for __me." _

            He looked up at her, and she was falling again, drowning in icewater and falling towards her doom, in the complete and utter loss in those eyes. 

            "I don't deserve it," he whispered. "I don't deserve _any_ of it, and yet you _fools_ go around protecting me like I'm something important. I'm _not, dammit, and will you please get that through __your head so you can go and convince all of them?!" His voice ended on a note of desperation, and she was at a loss for what to say. _

            But only for a moment. 

            "It doesn't matter if you deserve it," she replied. "Or, rather, whether or not you _think you deserve it, you baka, but I'm not going to get into that." She grinned. "We don't have much of a choice. It's our _destiny_ – "_

            "_Screw destiny!" he yelled, standing up and beginning to pace before the bench, leaves falling past him in the breeze as he walked. "I don't believe in that destiny crap, and if all of you could just get it through your thick heads and _leave me alone_…" _

            He seemed to run out of steam, for he sat back down on the bench and buried his head in his hands. 

            "I've lost too much already. My mother, Tokiko-san, Kotori… Now I'm afraid I've lost Fuuma. I don't believe in destiny. I don't _want_ to believe in destiny." 

            "Yeah, it sure makes life a living hell sometimes, ne?" 

            He looked up at her with disbelief, and she could see the unshed tears behind his bright eyes. 

            "I mean, there I was, a happy kid in my temple, and then the stars had to go and tell me I was supposed to come here. And sure, I was excited about coming to Tokyo – who wouldn't be, you know? – but it meant leaving things behind. Leaving people behind. And then I get here, and I find out that I'm a Dragon of Heaven, and I'm supposed to help this gorgeous guy that I'd absolutely _die to have one night with save the future of mankind, and I mean, it didn't sound like a bad deal. You know, fighting, thwarting evil, sure, why not? It was my destiny, after all, and you guys seemed like an interesting crowd to run with. But, well, everything has its drawbacks… There is that whole fighting part, 'cause along with it comes that whole possibility of dying thing, or even just the pain thing, and, well, I've never been a big fan of that, ne? But I'd help you no matter what, Kamui, I'd help you whether or not I'd been told –" _

            She paused – perhaps now _wasn't_ the best time to explain just how closely her fate was intertwined with that of Sorata – 

            "You… you think I'm gorgeous." His voice was flat – it was almost funny and she looked at him, in the dappled light. 

            "You?" she laughed. "Oh, _hell yes_, Kamui, I'd protect you even if I wasn't asked to!" She could feel herself turning red, but it was already out, she'd dug her own grave and there was no use trying to hide the headstone now. Besides, how was she going to get anywhere with him if he didn't know just what she thought?

            "You'd –" he stopped, looking at her, but his eyes had suddenly grown wide with realization, and he stood, backing a pace or two away from her. 

            "Damn you," he said, and she blinked, frozen in place, wondering what the hell had just gotten into him. 

            "Damn you," he repeated, backing up another step. "Damn you, damn Hinoto – you're Sorata's _twin, you said you'd __die for me, you – " _

            She looked down. Damn, she hadn't meant to make this worse. Another example of her fine people skills at work. Chalk up another victory to stupidity. And she had even tried to _not_ tell him.

            "I did," she said softly; it was all she could say. "I did, and I would. And… I will." 

            "_No!" he screamed, and he was suddenly alive with power, as he extended one arm towards her, palm open. He was going to strike – she leapt from the bench in self-defense, lightning crackling between her hands but she wasn't fast enough, wasn't prepared yet when the bolt of energy hit her and sent her reeling into the bushes. _

            She lay there, stunned, not even sure if she was seriously injured, not even sure if anyone had seen; she was only aware of his footfalls, pounding away down the sidewalk. Then a pause, as if to leap – 

            And then nothing. 

            She blinked a few times, the same spot on her skull aching where she'd hit it only a little while before, gathering her wits because she had to call someone, had to call Hinoto or Sorata or Aoki or – 

            The bushes above her parted, and a pleasantly smiling face peered down through the leaves at her. It was no one she knew – 

            Was it? 

            He took off his wire-rimmed sunglasses and continued peering down through the foliage at her, and it struck her that although this was not the man that she had seen before, following her all the way to the Nakano Sun Plaza, this boy had exactly the same feeling about him.     He was someone important. But who the hell was he? 

            "Ne, it looks like you had a little fight with Kamui-chan," he said pleasantly, still smiling down at her. "Want to tell your buddy Fuuma all about it?"


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Not mine, it belongs to CLAMP… even if they seem to have forgotten that fact… -_-;;

Twin Star

Part 8

She remembered nothing about how she had gotten here. That bothered her, but she had more pressing issues at the moment. Like how she was going to get free of these bonds. 

Or, really, _why_ she was bound to this chair in the first place. 

It was dark in here; there was light, but it came from what looked like the hallway that led to this room, wherever this was. Dimmer, darker light fell in a navy blue patch below the window as she looked around and suddenly wondered _what_ was going on. 

She was in a small room – and it was obviously a bedroom, and a girl's bedroom at that. The window was framed by soft pink curtains, drawn back and held in place with bows. The bed was covered by a similarly-colored comforter, pillows and stuffed animals littering its surface. There was a dresser, desk, and chair to her right, and the door lay to her left. She could only reason that the door was the most logical way to escape. 

_Getting_ to that door was another matter entirely, however. 

There was movement off to her right – she tensed, and the door opened, white light from the hallway spilling into the room until the lightswitch was flipped and she was momentarily blinded, cringing away from the attack on her pupils. 

When she dared to open her eyes again, the door was closed and leaning against it was the same boy she's seen before, still clothed in the same black trenchcoat but this time without the sunglasses. The one who'd called himself –

"Ne, you're awake now, are you?" he asked genially, coming over to her chair and folding his arms across his chest, looking down his nose at her. He was very tall, she noticed, and had a very strong aura of _power_ about him. But he was young – most certainly a boy and not a man, and were she to guess, she would say he couldn't really be all that much older than Kamui, or even herself or Sorata. Physically he looked like he wasn't yet out of high school, but there was a depth to his dark eyes that made her shiver in the already cold air, despite his tone of friendliness. 

It didn't sound anything like Sorata's friendliness, and there was something beneath those audible words that made her cringe. Hate – pure, wordless hate and rage – began to stir in the pit of her stomach. 

"Who are you?" she demanded, figuring that directness was probably the best way to go here. "Where is this – why –" 

"Slow down there," he said, unfolding his arms and holding his palms out before him. He grinned, but it was cold and empty on his features. "I'll answer your questions, of course," he began, his voice smooth as silk. "You're in my house, Imagawa-kun – and isn't it quite a nice little place my sister used to have here?" 

His _sister_ – 

It felt as though the bottom had dropped out of her stomach. And suddenly she was in no mood to play games. Her head still ached from Kamui's blow, and she was disoriented enough as it was. The ropes which bound her were beginning to cut into her wrists and ankles. And she _didn't_ like it here. 

"Who are you?" she repeated, but she already knew, and he smiled once more. 

"Oh, don't you remember? Well, I suppose you _did_ pass out right away – that's quite a blow Shirou-kun landed on you, you've got to admit. Oh well, no matter, it certainly made things easier for me…" 

"Who. Are you?" 

"Yes, yes, getting to that – Fuuma. Monou Fuuma." 

And she pitched forward into that same icy sea, only she was in the sky, and it was cold this high up, with little air left to breathe, and she was falling upwards into the arms of Kamui… 

Only it _wasn't_ Kamui… 

Angel's wings, feathers, a sickening grin – 

"Fuuma," she repeated, her stomach beginning to churn, as she acknowledged just _who_ this boy was. And where she was, really, and probably _why_ she was there as well. Instead of fear, however, the hate that had begun to well up the instant she'd awoken here only grew stronger, controlling her more effectively than fear ever could. 

"Ah, I see you're beginning to work things out," he observed, his voice ringing with a note of amusement, as his hands crossed over his chest once more. "Good." 

A pause. 

"I don't suppose asking you to let me go is going to do any good then, ne?" she asked, a wry smile twisting her lips as she looked up at Fuuma from her chair. 

He laughed, perhaps genuinely amused. But the sound cut off abruptly as his dark eyes fixed on her once again. 

"No. It won't."

The silence couldn't have lasted for more than a moment, but it seemed to stretch on towards eternity. 

Finally, he spoke. "So… let's get started, shall we?" He went over to the desk and dragged the chair out from beside it, pulling it over so that it was facing Nibai before he plopped himself ungraciously down into it, draping his limbs languidly over the arms. 

Nibai rolled her eyes. If this really _was_ Fuuma, then she knew that she would have to tread carefully. _Not_ knowing much more about him than that was probably her biggest weakness at this point, but she was going to bluff as long as she could on that front. 

And there was that tiny voice in the back of her mind, whispering, _He can't kill you, at least. You know he can't – you can't die like this, you'll die protecting Kamui, Fuuma can't kill you now… _

She wasn't sure whether or not to believe it, but life was much more pleasant – relatively speaking – if she did. 

"So I'm assuming they've already given you their little 'You're a Dragon of Heaven, help save humanity' speech," he began, watching her lazily from his position a few feet away. 

"Yeah, you could say that." 

He smiled. "And they've told you you're Sorata's twin, then." 

"Yep, great guy, don't you think?" 

He smiled wider. "And so you've already decided, then, that you're going to die for your little Kamui-chan, haven't you?"  
That struck something in her, something that began to make her just the slightest bit angry, of her own accord as opposed to the hate that was welling up on its own. His tone, his mocking words, something about the way his eyes flashed as he spoke Kamui's name… 

"Very good." He continued smiling, pleased although she hadn't even given him an answer. Apparently, she hadn't needed to. 

She sighed. "So if you know all of this already, oh great Dragon of Earth, then why do you have me tied up in here? Seems I'm only cluttering the place up." Perhaps not the best choice of words, she realized, but she'd already spoken them now.

"Oh, we're getting there," he replied, eyes sparkling and suddenly she was even sorrier she'd asked. This didn't… look good. Or didn't feel good, was more like it, because the feral grin he was giving her made her stomach drop right through the floor.

But while he'd been answering his own questions, she'd been working on something – working on getting her power to manifest a spark of lightning, small and controlled enough, to lance through her bindings in one shot. Because she was hoping that if she could just make a mad dash for that door – 

She felt the first sign of heat, of power, start in the palm of her hand, cradled between her interlaced fingers, and watched him very carefully to see if he had noticed. 

But his expression showed nothing of the sort as he went on. 

"You see," he was saying, "there's a slight problem with your plans. A hitch, if you will, and it's right in front of your face. Yet you don't seem to see it. But if I told you what it was, it would be no fun, now would it? And therein lies your problem, Nibai-chan." 

"What, not even a hint?" she tried to produce a mock-pleading look for him, even as her blood began to boil and his sheer audacity.

And that was the last ingredient, it seemed, because at that moment she flexed her hands and power lanced through the room, ionizing the air and cutting through her bonds – 

She fell to the floor and scrambled to her feet, seeing only the doorknob before her, knowing only that she must make it there before he realized what was going on and started after her.

She flung open the door and dashed into the hallway – 

And it was already too late. She knew that, knew it an instant before the shockwave of angry power swept the room and flung her face-first into the wall, leaving her to slide down to the ground still in a state of shock, bits of the plaster pattering down around her like rain. 

She turned herself around, wiping at the blood beginning to trickle down from her split lip, only to see a dark shadow fall over her, blotting out what little light there was coming through the doorway. 

"Nibai-chan, you should _know_ better," Fuuma said, crouching down to look her in the eye, face impassive, almost amused as she glared up at him, vision still laced with spots from hitting the wall. 

"Now I'm going to have to take more… forceful steps with you. It would have been easier the other way, you know," he said, the smile disappearing as he stood.

And dragged her with him, pulling her up by the collar and slamming her against the wall as if she weighed nothing, staring into her eyes with a cold intensity that froze her until she could not move, could not think – 

And then he glanced behind him. There was a vase, on the desk, containing a single rose. In an instant, it had shattered, and its shards came screaming towards the wall where he had her pinned – 

And she screamed as a pain she had never even begun to imagine lanced through her hands, her legs, her shoulders, her feet...

Her world went black, then white, then slowly shifted back to its normal view, and she blinked Fuuma into focus and saw that he was studying her intently as she writhed beneath the glass pinning her to the wall. 

She must be in shock, she thought, for already the pain was dulling itself, and her blood seemed nothing more than hot, sticky liquid running down her limbs to pool below her feet. Her hands and feet were numb in a prickly sort of way, and her head was both spinning and clear at the same time. 

"You, Nibai-chan, are very interesting. Hinoto's trump card – the edge the Dragons of Heaven hold over the Dragons of Earth. Arisugawa Sorata's twin star, a woman fated to die for the sake of a man." 

He paused, and Nibai had not yet gotten her breath back to speak. 

He went on. "And you're not even a woman yet, are you?" he asked, looking her up and down, taking in her now-torn school uniform with both distaste and lust. She shivered, the hate continuing to boil up inside her at his expression. 

He only laughed and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"You hate me." 

"You could say that, yes," she said, voice still weak but at least she could speak now, at least she could still lift her head and look him in the eye. "I mean, friends don't tend to pin other friends to the wall. With glass, no less. But maybe I'm just misguided, ne?" 

He chucked. "Misguided… No, not so much misguided as confused." 

He leaned in, until she could almost feel his breath on her face. She dared not turn away. 

"You hated me before I pinned you to the wall," he said calmly. "You felt who I was the instant you saw me, and it's been bothering you ever since, hasn't it? Tell me, " he said, leaning away once more, "Why do you hate me so? Why, when I can grant your deepest, most desperate wish?" He cocked a grin at her now, and she couldn't help the shiver that ran through her body. 

He leaned down again, staring directly into her eyes. He smiled, as if he liked what he saw there as she tried to process this new information. 

_Deepest, most desperate wish?_

"I know your wish, Nibai-chan." 

She clenched her teeth and stared him down, sure she knew what he would say next but afraid all the same. 

"You can't have him, you know. Not even with your silly little price." 

That wasn't what she had expected, exactly. She tried to understand what he was telling her, but it was suddenly becoming difficult. Fuuma laughed, hands still in his pockets, and his laugh seemed to make the cuts suddenly hurt more – the glass stung her skin as he gazed at her, turning her world into a sharp, pain-tinged place. 

"He's _mine_," Fuuma veritably growled, all traces of laughter gone from the air in an instant. "You can't have him – it's as simple as that. Now you know it, I've known it, so let's just stop pretending, hmm?"

She glared at him, at that moment wishing for the power to blow him away. To make him hurt. Because now she _knew_ – she knew that he was only doing this to break her, to hurt her, and that she had no right, especially as the Dragon of Heaven that she was, to let him get to her. No right. And yet he did. He did, in that way that made her blood boil and her vision go red and she wanted to maim him. To kill him. To protect Kamui. 

She had never felt this way before – never felt such pure, unfiltered hate course through her like this. Never felt the urge to kill. And yet right now, staring at him, even with the pain lancing through her, she wanted to kill him without even knowing what he had done to Kamui, what he would do to Kamui, because his tone implied so much… 

Damn it, she knew he was probably right. The same way Arashi merely put up with Sorata – Nibai knew that she probably had never had a chance with Kamui. That she probably never would. But that didn't stop her from wanting him.

That wouldn't stop her from dying for him. 

Destiny could _not_ be countered. 

Apparently Fuuma was having a grand time watching the emotions play across her all-too-readable face, because he was laughing again, grinning again. She was ripped from her thoughts as he came up and placed one hand on her cheek, leaning in until his face was very, very close to hers. She could feel his warm, moist breath upon her own lips, see nothing but his dark, cold eyes filling her world as he stared into her clouded eyes. 

"But you could have _this_ Kamui, you know," he drawled lazily. "Oh, I could give you that, Nibai-chan. You know I'm much better than _he_ is." 

He paused, stepping back and pulling off the trenchcoat, draping that over the chair only to be joined by the black t-shirt he wore underneath. Then he leaned back in and without warning ripped one of the glass shards from her right hand – she winced and bit her tongue to keep from crying out, she wasn't about give him _that_ pleasure. Because she was sure her cries would please him. 

"I've," he began again, taking her hand, numb and bleeding, and running it down his bare chest, "got such a better figure, don't you think?"

There was an evil glint in his eye, and her stomach suddenly churned as he continued with her hand, tracing his own muscles with it, leaving a trail of her blood on his skin and obviously enjoying the looks of disgust and hatred she was unable to keep from crossing her face.

"You wanted Kamui," he said slowly, leaning in, his breath tickling her ear as she flinched away from him, unable to help herself this time. "Now you've got him. _I'm_ Kamui, more than he ever will be, and you know it, Nibai-chan. And _I'll _take you." His tongue licked a lazy trail down her cheek to her mouth, where he captured her lips with his own and shoved his tongue against her mouth, forcing it inside as she squeezed her eyes shut. Disgustingly encouraged, he pressed his full weight against her – so now she could feel, intentionally, just how willing he _was _to take her.

When his tongue had finally left, she felt fingers dance across her eyelids. "Open your eyes, Nibai-chan. Don't you want to see your Kamui?"

Disgust and hate exploded in her mind, and something inside her snapped. Because she was _not_ going to take this – she was not going to just stand there – pinned to the wall though she was – and take this. 

She searched her mind for something – anything – that she could use against him. And remembered his words, Hinoto's words, Sorata's words… 

She opened her eyes and smiled wanly. "So you don't just like boys then, Fuuma? You can get off on anyone? Frankly, I'm impressed. I'd have thought –" 

_SLAP_

Her head flew to the side, her cheek stinging fiercely but she held her smile as he glared down at her, eyes narrowed, angry now that she wasn't going to be as submissive as she'd seemed.

"You'll pay for that," he said, voice still calm but eyes glittering with anger, and abruptly he ripped her shirt down the middle; she shivered but glared back at him, showing no sign of her actual mortification that he'd just bared her chest. "I was going to be gentle with you out of pity, Nibai-chan, but now..." His voice had turned to a growl; her stomach continued to churn, had she just done herself in worse than he'd planned before? 

He was rubbing his entire body against her fiercely as she squirmed beneath his grasp, the glass breaking away and grinding into pieces in her skin, hurting like hell but it was all she had to distract herself from _him_… 

His teeth grabbed her neck and bit, drawing blood as he left there to travel downward, repeating the process, ripping her skin and leaving bite marks down her arms. When he was done, his tongue traveled back up, lapping the liquid away.

"Ne, doesn't Kanoe feed you?" she choked out – she was answered with one hand seizing her chest, grasping painfully as his teeth bit her throat again. She bit her tongue again to keep from crying out – damned if that hadn't really _hurt_. 

He ground against her harder, pressing against her and she was mortified, lost, scared beyond her ability to feel fear and she knew there was no one to save her. 

All she knew was that she couldn't – wouldn't – let him take her so easily. 

"Hmph, no wonder you're on such a power trip," she choked, but it was getting harder to speak, let alone lie as she could feel him pressing against her. "If I was that small I'd be blowing up everything I could to compensate too."

"You know, Nibai-chan," he growled, as he grabbed a fistful of her hair in one hand and

nuzzled – in no way tenderly – against her cheek, "Shut. Up."

"Or you'll... what?" she asked, trying to sound uncooperative, strong, anything but broken, because she was not going to let him break her. She was not she was not she was not...

"Or I'll rip your tongue out."

As it was, his tongue was back in her mouth now and he bit down on _her_ tongue, hard – 

Her mouth filled with blood, her world filled with pain from every angle, and as he began moving his hips against her again, and she began to realize… 

She had no defenses. Her power was not enough to harm him, and he was much stronger than she was. He _was_ going to have his way with her – hell, he practically already was – and there was… 

There was absolutely nothing she could do to stop him. 

"And you know the funny thing, Nibai-chan," he murmured into her hair, as she closed her eyes to the world and began to wish it all away. "You know… this isn't even what you _really_ wish for. But… I think it'll do." 


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Nibai is the only one I own. No matter how many X posters and calendars and tankoban I buy… 

Twin Star

Chapter 9

Nibai was missing, and Kamui was missing, and Sorata was starting to get pissed off. The library had closed hours ago; dusk had fallen and still there was no sign of them. Arashi had gone to look for them, telling him to stay at home in case one or both of them returned. Yuzuriha had homework of her own, and although she insisted that she wanted to help, she would have been of little use in a search and so he and Arashi had decided that it was better for her to remain home as well and get her own work done. It hadn't been important enough – yet – to contact the other Dragons or Hinoto, for worrying people over nothing was not something even Sorata wanted to do. 

And so he was left here, moving idly around the house with nothing to do, no way to help, and getting both bored and annoyed rather quickly. He wasn't sure what to think – after all, Hinoto would have told them of a foreseen attack, that much he knew. So it was unlikely that a battle was taking place. Someone would know about it.

And now he felt like someone's father, waiting for his children to come home, and he was damned if he was going to act like a _parent_, of all things. What a concept. And a frightening one at that, he thought, grinning despite himself.

So that left him to wonder if Nibai had finally managed to crack Kamui, and that thought only widened his grin even now, as he was still fighting the urge to hit something in frustration at not knowing where they were. But he had to admit that certainly was an interesting possibility… 

The front door opened and closed; he looked up from the place on the couch where he'd finally seated himself, expecting Arashi to come into the room having had no luck in her search… 

And instead caught a glimpse of Kamui as he made his way stiffly up the stairs to his room. 

Sorata shot up the stairs less than half a minute later, calling even as he heard the door slam shut on Kamui's room. 

"Oy! Kamui, what the hell've – oy, Kamui, come on, open the door, willya? We were worried about you guys, and where's Nibai, didn't she want to come back for dinner – hey, where the hell have you been?" he asked, as Kamui opened the door in the middle of his sentence. He looked at the younger boy, and was suddenly worried all over again. 

"Ne… Kamui, are you all right? Did something happen? Did –" 

"Nothing happened," Kamui said flatly – _more _flatly than usual, if that was possible. He looked positively awful, skin pale even for him, and his entire body was tense with frustration or stress. There was a lost look added to his dull eyes, and Sorata wanted to know just what the hell _had_ happened. Because something must have. He'd learned not to listen to Kamui's insistence on such things long ago. 

"Ne, if nothing happened, then why do you look worse than usual? And why were you late?" 

"Do I have to have a reason for _everything_ I do?" Kamui asked, his voice suddenly gaining some bite, and Sorata took a step back. 

"Hey, don't go biting my head off. Look, we were worried, okay? The library closed hours ago, and where _is _Nibai?" he asked, figuring dropping the subject of Kamui's looks was probably best for the moment. 

"How should I know? Do I look like I own her?" he snapped. "Oh wait," he went on, suddenly, "I _do_, don't I, because that damned Hinoto has decided to make her think that she has to go and _die_ for me." Sorata winced – Kamui's words were like knives, and it almost physically hurt as they washed over his skin. 

A pause, and suddenly there was a new look in Kamui's eyes – anger, and Sorata almost took another step back. 

"Ne –" 

"Well I _don't_ know where she is, and I _don't_ care, and all of you and your damned _destinies_ can _go to hell_." 

And the door slammed in his face. Sorata flinched, and there was a rather uneasy feeling beginning to grow in the pit of his stomach. 

So Kamui knew… He knew about Nibai's fate, and how she had decided to use it. 

What else did he know? 

Although… now was most certainly _not_ the time to ask it. Sorata went downstairs, dropping ungracefully onto the couch once more, and hoping that Arashi would find Nibai so he would stop feeling like such a damned parent all over again. 

***

Everything hurt. Everything hurt, and her insides felt as though they'd been ripped to shreds even as her arms, legs, and shoulders felt as though they'd been rubbed so hard with gravel that it was permanently embedded in her skin. She was confused, and her head spun, and she dared to take a breath and open her eyes, trying to remember what had happened to her. 

The cloudy light of predawn was just beginning to filter through the curtained window, and she was surrounded by the stuffed animals also lying on this comforter in the room of a girl she had never met. 

She closed her eyes again, suddenly wishing to _not_ remember what had happened to her. As if that could somehow erase it… 

Her hands were bound to the headboard, her feet bound to the legs at the foot of the bed. Her clothing was torn and bloodied, and she was sure the blankets beneath her were ruined beyond repair. There were glass shards ground into the cuts everywhere on her skin, and there was dried blood between her legs and suddenly she felt like she was going to be sick –

And she was given no respite as the door opened and Fuuma stepped into the room and flipped on the lights. She could only just barely see the cracked plaster and bloody gouges in the hall behind him before he closed the door, leaning on it and looking down at her with an expression of extreme satisfaction. 

He held a kitchen knife in one hand, and for one dizzying moment, all she could think was, _Thank God, he's come to kill me_. 

"Oh, you don't really want me to kill you," he purred, seeing the look on her face. He stepped away from the door, the knife flashing in the lamplight. "If that was what you truly wished… well," he grinned down at her, "I might even consider giving you that. But it's not what you want, don't be childish." 

She was rather sure she _did_ want him to do just that, but she kept her mouth shut and settled for glaring at him. It was the best she could do – she didn't trust herself to open her mouth, not while her stomach was heaving at the memories… And not while she could nearly _feel_ her blood beginning to boil, the hate welling up so strongly this time that she almost felt as though she could flex her arms and be rid of these restraints – 

"You won't break those," he said, motioning to her hands and feet. He grinned again. "I made sure of that, Nibai-chan." He came and seated himself on the edge of the bed, beside her and she was torn between showing as much defiance as she could muster and trying to curl into the smallest ball possible. 

She couldn't move, so she'd have to settle for defiance, and she looked daggers at him and tried to seem as though he couldn't phase her. 

But she knew better, and he knew better, and he was going to _let_ her know he knew. She was sure of that. 

"Oh, you're so cute when you're trying to be brave," he quipped, his mouth suddenly very close to her ear. She shuddered, was angry at having done so, and turned her head away. 

"How about using that knife on these ropes?" she asked, voice as steady as she could make it, staring at a spot on the wall just above the dresser, head still turned away from _him_. 

"Hm," he hummed, sounding thoughtful and she knew he was faking. "How about… _not_." 

She felt cold steel against her face, as he placed the flat edge of the blade along her cheek. She didn't dare move – 

"I like playing with you far too much to just let you go, Nibai-chan," he said softly. "And there's much I still have to do, before I can –" 

"I'm _not_ your plaything," she spat, before she even knew what she was saying. "I don't belong to you, and neither does Kamui." 

The blade turned, the sharp edge resting on her skin now and he had only to press down with the least amount of force – 

"Kamui is _mine_." 

"Then why did you capture _me_?" 

"That's none of your concern," he said pleasantly, leaning over her, his other hand moving to cradle her face and force her eyes to fall on his. "And personally, Nibai-chan, I'd be more concerned about _myself_ here than about Kamui. Or are you really that foolish…?" 

She only glared back into his eyes, wanting nothing more than to break the stare but unable to turn her head, unwilling to close her eyes in defeat. 

He laughed, and stood up, and she was almost relieved – maybe he would go away now, maybe the knife had only been to threaten her with, because he had said himself that he wasn't going to kill her – 

And then he dropped onto the bed again, on his knees now and straddling her hips, and she could feel her eyes widen in shock and disgust and he leaned down over her, knife held firmly in his hand. 

His other hand reached down and grabbed a fistful of her hair, pulling it upward and he raised the knife, bringing it down – 

He tossed the severed strands of hair over his shoulder, not caring where they went or how they coated the carpet behind him, only intent on lifting the next fistful of hair and severing _that_ – 

"You know, if you _wanted_ a wig there are these places that sell – "

He ceased his slashing and dove down, forcing his lips over hers so quickly that she didn't have time to resist as his tongue plunged into her mouth, nearly choking her. 

He pulled back and gazed down at her, eyes now filled with malice and not much else. 

"Nibai-chan, remember what I told you about being quiet?" He waved the knife before her face – much closer than she would have liked. "Don't think I won't cut your tongue out, Nibai-chan." His eyes narrowed. "I will." 

She really had no doubt that he would. And she tried her hardest _not_ to show that. 

He laughed again and resumed chopping her hair. It didn't take him that long, really, considering he was just cutting at random, and cutting large chunks with each swipe at her head. Soon he seemed satisfied, and carefully laid the knife beside her head on the pillow, looking down at her with a feral grin and satisfaction glinting in those dark eyes. 

She'd had enough. "Can you at least tell me _why_ the hell you saw fit to give me the worst haircut of my life?" Not that she'd been particularly attached to her hair, it really was getting too long, but she hadn't intended for _anyone_ to ever chop it this short, and she was still so frightened that the only way to _not_ think about it was to use her tongue and not her brain. 

He shook his head slightly. "Nibai-chan, Nibai-chan, are all you Dragons of Heaven that blind? I shouldn't even tell you, for being so stupid," he said. And began unbuckling his belt. 

"… _Ne_?" He was _not_… 

He tossed his belt over the side of the bed, and settled more of his weight on her. And she thought she was going to be sick again. 

He leaned down over her until his face was scant inches from hers, until she could feel his breath on her lips and she almost wished she _would_ be sick, that would show _him_… 

"He liked your hair, Nibai-chan," he murmured, tongue working its way along her cheek again. "He liked it, and you know, we can't have _that_." 

He sat up again, looking down at her before starting on the zipper of his pants. 

"Because we've already decided which Kamui you belong to, now haven't we?" 

***

Kamui woke, slowly, his surroundings strange and yet familiar all at the same time. He blinked away disorientation and sat up, suddenly cringing with pain. He was stiff with bandages, the clean white strips wrapped neatly about his arms, and from how he felt, his midsection as well. His head spun slightly, but not enough to keep him from remembering what had happened. 

He'd been talking with Daisuke… and he'd seen the Dragon in the sky, and felt Fuuma… 

Fuuma. Daisuke had beaten him there, and he'd seen…. 

He'd seen Fuuma rip Daisuke to pieces like he was a paper doll. He'd seen Fuuma grin, and wave his hands and say something about granting a wish, and then… 

And then he'd killed Daisuke. 

Even as the anger – and yet remorse – rose in his gut, he remembered something else. Something else Fuuma had said to him, as in his anger Kamui had tried to kill him, and missed, his killing blow falling short of its mark. 

Because he didn't _want_ to kill Fuuma. Not really. He wanted to kill the person who was doing these things, who would sink this low, who would end the world… but that person _wasn't_ Fuuma. He knew that as surely as he knew anything else. 

Which wasn't very reassuring at the moment. 

But Fuuma's words were dancing in his mind again, and anger began rising once more… 

"I have something of yours, by the way," he'd said, eyes glinting with some sort of sick amusement as Kamui had gaped up at him, wondering what he meant. 

Fuuma had laughed. "I'll bet you didn't even know it was missing, either, now did you?" 

Kamui had no choice but to ask, "What?" 

A slight shake of the head. "Oh, you probably wouldn'tve noticed she was missing yourself, not for a few days at least. _They_ noticed, of course, but they're all too busy keeping their distance from you to tell you." 

_She?_ Kamui's eyes had narrowed, a sinking feeling in the pit of his already churning stomach, as he gazed up at this person, this new person that he still refused could actually be Fuuma. 

"Who's missing?" 

More laughter. "You've got to learn to be more observant, Kamui. Why, hasn't it been a little quieter lately without her around? One of them is bad enough, perhaps you're just glad for the respite." 

_Nibai. _

"Of course," Fuuma was saying, "if you don't hurry, she won't be yours any longer." 

Kamui's eyes narrowed further, as he backed away from Fuuma. "Where is she?" He had meant for it to come out as less of a plea and more of a demand, but it was hard to do so, especially with Daisuke's body lying so close to him, and blood still everywhere, coating his clothes and his skin and his hair and his world… 

"Where? Why, where else, but the same place as the last person who held that special little place in your heart?" 

And with that, and a sickening grin, Fuuma had blasted him against… something hard, for Kamui had obviously lost consciousness and now there was an annoying lack of information about what had happened between then and now. A leaden feeling sat in the pit of his stomach, as he realized, _really_ realized… 

_Fuuma has Nibai. He's kidnapped her, and he's keeping her somewhere. Somewhere _I _should know about…_

He was almost tempted to think Fuuma had been joking, sarcasm coating his words when he'd spoken of "the last person to hold that place in his heart." 

But… but there was only one person he could think of that had held _any_ real place in his heart that Fuuma could mean… 

_Kotori_. 

But… but to think about Kotori, and then Nibai… 

He closed his eyes, as if that would take away the physical pain needling through his heart, making it hard to breathe as he thought of Kotori. As he thought of Fuuma, killing Kotori. As he thought of Nibai, and for an instant considered Fuuma's words and what they could mean, if he chose to believe them… 

He refused to believe Fuuma's words, even as he knew he was deluding himself, but what else could he do? 

How could he believe – believe, and go on – that Nibai and Kotori held similar places in his heart? The same place, or anything close to the same place. He couldn't have that. He _wouldn't_ have that. 

No matter what it meant. 

But then that still left him wondering _where_ Nibai was. Kotori was buried on CLAMP Campus – Kamui shoved down the rush of anguish and self-loathing that again welled up at that thought, hard though it was – and Nibai was missing. Or so everyone seemed to keep telling him, now… 

_Where_ was she, then? He dropped his head into his hands, despair suddenly washing over him, and he wished for the millionth time since he could remember that he was dead, that none of this had happened, that he had never existed… Anything but this pain. He wished, even when he knew he could not have it, for the means to end this pain. 

Or for the strength to keep trudging through it. 

Either one would do, really. If only he had one of them. 


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Not mine. -_-;; (But Nibai is!)

NOTE: I skip a bit of time in the story here, but I'm following the TV anime series. Hope that helps. ^^;;

Twin Star

Chapter 10

Sorata had told him to "go home and get some rest." As if that were an option, really. "Rest" was no longer in Kamui's vocabulary, and the house that Nokoru had provided for them felt about as far from his "home" as when he'd moved away from Fuuma and Kotori when he was young. And his mother had been with him then. 

He closed his eyes to the pain that her memory brought up – surely he needed to get over her death. And over Kotori's death as well. Another pang of guilt and pain stabbed him as he thought of her then, bound to those beams, looking down at him desperately as he could do nothing but scream as Fuuma brought the sword down towards her chest – 

He shook his head, as if that would clear the memories away. But he didn't _want_ the memories to go away, not really – he didn't _want_ to forget about his mother or Kotori or even Tokiko-san. And he was afraid that if it didn't hurt… 

He didn't know what to do, if it didn't hurt. Losing the pain meant losing something else, he was sure, and he was afraid of what that might be. 

And he'd lost too much already. 

Fuuma. 

And now Nibai. 

_Why_ did these fools insist on… on helping him? Didn't they see that they weren't really helping him at all, only dragging him down into the depths of somewhere cold and alone and most certainly someplace he'd rather not be. He wanted to be someplace warm, someplace pleasant and filled with the people he loved. The people he _had_ loved, because there really weren't many of them _left_. 

He wanted to be someplace he knew he could never go. Someplace he knew would never exist. And he didn't know what to do, now that he was left _here_, and not there, for good.

Inuki was barking, he could hear the dog's yelps from downstairs in the living room. He chose to ignore them. Instead he focused on willing the images and sounds to go away, to leave him alone in the peace of his room here, where he knew there was no respite but sought it anyway. 

The spirit dog's barking became more insistent, and suddenly he heard Yuzuriha's voice. 

"Who… who are you?" 

She and Kamui were the only ones here – that question could only mean – 

"Oh, I'm just a friend Kamui-chan knows from school," Fuuma's voice drawled in response, and Kamui was up off the bed and out into the hall in an instant, leaping down the stairs four at a time and landing in the living room silently but full of rage. He had no room – no time – to feel anything else. 

"Well, speak of the devil," Fuuma grinned to him from beside the couch, where Yuzuriha sat, looking frightened. Inuki was bristling and growling beside her, but something about Fuuma was keeping him at bay. 

That was probably for the best; Fuuma would probably kill the dog without a second thought. Or a regret. Hell, he'd probably kill Yuzuriha as well. Just one more thing that served to remind him that this was _not_ his Fuuma. But this was the only person who could bring him back. 

"What do you want?" Kamui asked, careful to keep his voice level, pushing down the fear and anger as effectively as he could. The worst thing to do right now would be to show Fuuma weakness. 

"It's been an entire day, I'd have thought you'd have solved my little clue by now." Fuuma sighed, pulling something out of his pocket. 

Inuki's growls became louder. 

"Oh, come now, it's only a present for my Kamui-chan," Fuuma said reproachfully, casting his words down to the dog. "Just a little… encouragement. Since he's so slow at these things." 

He flashed Kamui another grin and tossed something at him. He caught the small box out of instinct, flinching as it flew towards his face. 

When he looked up from the box he had caught in his hands, Fuuma was gone and Yuzuriha was clutching the still-bristling Inuki to her, eyes wide with fear. 

Kamui looked back down to the box in his hands; it was a small thing, made of cherry wood with three sakura leaves carved onto the surface, depicted as if they were floating in the breeze. 

His stomach knotted – he knew this box, he realized, running one finger over the carved top, closing his eyes and calling up the memory, painful as it was. 

This box was Kotori's. Fuuma had bought it for her, that first year Kamui had moved here and they'd all gone to a festival with their mothers. It had been a warm night, with fireflies dancing among the festival-goers and wonders around every corner. Kotori had seen the box and had been immediately taken with it; Fuuma had secretly bought it for her and presented it to her that night, before the three of them had finally parted to sleep. She had been thrilled, and kept all of her most precious things in it, stored beneath her bed where she thought it would be safe. When she had been alive. 

He opened his eyes, stomach churning, fingers shaking as they lifted the lid to reveal the red velvet that lined the inside. 

He blinked, staring down at what lay in the box, his teeth clenching in anger as he snapped the box shut, nearly breaking it in the absolute anger and mortification that had suddenly taken over his every thought. 

Yuzuriha was looking at him expectantly, curiosity beginning to override the fear in her eyes. 

"What is it?" she asked tentatively, stroking Inuki absent-mindedly as she watched Kamui carefully. 

"I'm leaving," he said suddenly, heading for the door. Yuzuriha leapt from the couch, protesting as Inuki followed her. 

"But you can't! You need to stay here, you need to wait for the others, and if you won't then can't I come with you –"

"I'm going alone," he replied, one hand on the doorknob. 

"_Where_ are you going?" Yuzuriha pleaded, standing behind him as he turned. 

"I know where Nibai is," he said, and was gone before she could protest any further. 

She knew it was nearly pointless to follow him. She knew she probably couldn't keep up, and she knew that she would likely be of no help. She sighed, frustration coursing through her. She _hated_ feeling so useless.

Inuki whined from beside her calf; she smiled a bit and looked down at him, scratching him behind the ears, where he liked it. 

"Hai, I know you love me, Inuki," she said, somewhat consoled; Inuki always had that effect on her. 

After a moment of scratching, Inuki sniffed the air, his ears suddenly perking up as he pulled away from Yuzuriha. Her stomach churned as she looked down at him, worried, wondering what it was that was bothering him. 

He turned and walked back into the living room; she followed and saw that Kamui had left a box – the one Fuuma had thrown at him – on the table. Inuki was sniffing it, looking back to her and whining softly. 

"What is it, Inuki?" she asked softly, walking over to the table and picking up the box, admiring its beauty, tracing the tiny sakura leaves carved into its lid. 

She opened it, curious – 

And dropped it, staring at her feet as the box fell open and a lock of long, ebony hair tumbled out. 

***

He stood outside the dark house, stomach churning with both anger and fear, torn between memories and what could possibly lie in the very near future. A slight breeze picked up, ruffling his hair and making him shiver involuntarily. 

He closed his eyes, remembering why he was here. And what he needed to do. 

He opened his eyes and stepped up to the door, trying the handle. It was open. He pushed the door open and walked into the hall, ignoring the ghosts that seemed to seep out of the very floor and walls and call out to him. He closed his mind to the memories and focused on the end of the hall, focused on the door on the right that he knew led into Kotori's room. 

He stopped opposite her door and stared at the wall – he wondered what had happened, but had a bad feeling that he didn't really _need_ to wonder. The plaster was cracked, and shards of glass littered the floor. Everything was covered in old, brown blood, and he coughed as the smell of it reached his nose. 

No, he knew what had happened there. Something all-too-similar had happened to him, once. He turned his attention to the door instead, sidestepping the mess of glass and plaster.

There were no lights on in the room, either; there was only inky darkness beneath the closed door. He screwed up any courage he had room to feel and placed his hand on the cold handle, turning it… 

The room was indeed dark, but a splash of the night sky shone through the window, still framed by the same curtains Kotori had loved so much. In fact, the room still looked _exactly_ like he remembered it… 

He suppressed a shudder and turned his eyes to the bed as he heard a sound – 

And his mouth dropped open. He blinked, absolutely _refusing_ to see what he saw there. 

Because what he saw was Nibai, lying on the bed, her hands and feet bound to the bedframe, her uniform – what was left of it – torn and bloody. He could see gaping, uncleaned wounds on her arms and legs.

He did the first thing that came to mind; he flipped on the lights, flinching in the sudden brightness. When he could see again, he saw the clumps of hair littering the carpet, saw where they had come from, for all of Nibai's hair had been hacked nearly down to her scalp. In fact… there was a knife embedded in the wall above her head, a few dark strands wound about the brightly glinting blade.

There was another sound – Nibai moved, on the bed, and he looked to her to see that she was also blinking in the bright light. He took a few steps towards her, as her dark eyes slowly focused on his form. 

"Ka… Kamui?" she coughed out, staring up at him as if she couldn't believe that he was here. 

"It's me," he said, but even those two words were suddenly hard to get out. 

A beat, then her bruised mouth twisted into what could pass as the ghost of a wry smile. 

"Well, genius, if it's not too much bother, could you untie me? I mean, I'm absolutely _starving_, you wouldn't believe how hard it is to eat when you're tied to a bed, you know?" 

The absurd words shocked him into action – immediately he was untying her arms, then her feet as she struggled slowly into a sitting position. He glanced up at her and saw a sudden blush spring into her cheeks. 

And he was suddenly aware that there really wasn't very much of her uniform left intact. 

He suppressed the blush that surged into his own cheeks and turned his head away, shrugging out of his uniform jacket and handing it to her. 

"Thanks – ow," she said, as the material disappeared from his hand. "Much – ow – appreciated." 

He heard cloth slowly sliding over skin, and refused to blush. No matter how much his body wanted to. 

"Okay," she said, her voice suddenly weaker, after another moment. He turned back around, staring at her in the light, suddenly mortified at the extent of her injuries even as he was surprised she could even sit up.

Her thighs were caked with blood clotted over wounds that still sparkled with glass shards, and he was sure her arms did not look much different. The way she was holding them, slightly outward from her body and very stiffly, only intensified his suspicions. There were a few bruises on her face, a few lines of dried blood where it looked like Fuuma, in his obvious effort to cut her hair off, had missed and cut her face as well. 

Her hair – Kamui stood, completely mortified now, realizing… 

_How_ had Fuuma known? How could he possibly – 

And suddenly he found that he was angry – _very_ angry… 

"Um… not to sound rude or anything," Nibai began softly from below him, "but would you mind getting me _out_ of here? Much as I love wearing your clothes…" 

"Let's go," Kamui said, suddenly filled with the desire to leave there as soon as possible. He would deal with this later. He would deal with this for a very long time, later. 

***

Kamui was lifting her, delicate hands pulling her up and she bit her tongue as even his touch elicited such pain that she wanted nothing more than to pass out and for all of it to go away. Much as she could barely believe Kamui was there, _saving_ her from this hell, she still hurt far too much to want to bear consciousness for some time. 

He looped one arm carefully around her shoulders, and she found herself leaning into him as he began heading for the doorway.

Only to have it blocked by Fuuma. 

Kamui froze, his body going stiff beside her as he blinked up at the taller boy and she felt her hate welling up again, wanting nothing more than to bury her face in Kamui's shoulder and erase the sight of Fuuma before them. But she knew she couldn't do that. 

"Ah, so you _do_ have a brain in that pretty little head of yours," Fuuma said, leaning against the doorframe and smirking down at them. "I thought so." 

_Make him go away, make him go away_… 

"Oh, Fuuma, you flatter me," Nibai said dryly from beside Kamui, shocking him so that he turned and stared at her, but she was more than angry at Fuuma for being here, for doing this when she was in no shape protect Kamui properly. Angry at him for other things she dared not to think about right now. 

"You flatter _yourself_, bitch," Fuuma replied easily, with no malice audible behind his smooth words. "Or have you forgotten whose bitch you are, hmm?" 

Nibai felt herself flush with shame, shame that quickly grew into anger. She still wanted to beat Fuuma, to hurt him and make him feel the pain and embarrassment that she felt now, to make him _pay_ for ever doing anything to not only herself, but to the boy beside her who now stood frozen in place. 

"Stand aside, Fuuma," Kamui growled, staring up at the older boy, standing up a little straighter, careful to hurt her as little as possible as she did all she could to keep her eyes open, to stay awake and defiant here and now. 

Fuuma grinned. "Or you'll what, Kamui-chan? You're taking something that's mine, after all – of course I'm going to try and stop you." 

"Yours? Something that's _yours_? Remember that you told me you had something of _mine_, Fuuma," Kamui snapped in reply. 

Fuuma laughed. "No, I told you that if you didn't hurry, it wouldn't be yours anymore. And, well," he shot Nibai a feral grin before looking back to Kamui, "you didn't hurry." 

Kamui glared at Fuuma, something like disbelief and anger crossing his features, as Nibai was suddenly fed up with being referred to as belonging to _anyone_. She was sick of Fuuma treating her like a doll, like a plaything, because she was _not_ a damned _possession_ – 

"You're forgetting, _baka_, that I don't belong to _anyone_," she said as defiantly as she could, startling Kamui beside her. He looked surprised that she could raise her voice in protest; to be honest, so was she. 

"Hm," Fuuma purred, "your body would say otherwise, Nibai-chan." 

Her cheeks burned with shame, but she refused to show any other sign of how she had lost to him. If she admitted defeat, he would win, and she was damned if she would let Fuuma win _anything_, she was damned if she would let Fuuma walk away from this house alive, much as she knew that she didn't have the strength right now to so much as raise a hand against him. He had made sure of that.

"My body is _mine_, Fuuma," she growled, her voice her only defense and so she chose to use it, as she had before. "You can't take it away from me. No matter _what_ you do to me –" 

"What about your Kamui-chan, then?" Fuuma asked, standing and walking slowly towards them. "What about what I do to _him_?" 

One hand cradled Kamui's chin carefully between long fingers. Kamui blinked, suddenly frozen in place, his body like a statue beside her and his eyes wide with fear. And that was _it_. 

Let him do what he would with her, but the _second_ he touched Kamui – 

"If you value that hand, Fuuma, you'd better move it," Nibai said lowly, sliding out of Kamui's grasp, fire beyond her imaginings shooting through her entire body as she moved, her limbs shrieking in protest as she felt that each second she remained standing on her own was a miracle. 

_Protect Kamui_… 

She would _not_ let Fuuma have Kamui. She would _not_, she would protect Kamui with her last ounce of strength, until her last breath – 

She cupped her hands before her, closing her eyes to the scene before her, but it seemed etched onto her eyelids and all she could see was Kamui, caught like a deer in the headlights, and she wanted to protect him… 

Her hands felt odd and hot, then all of her, then the room seemed to freeze in time, and she dared to open her eyes.

"A kekkai," Fuuma said, and suddenly he'd let go of Kamui and stood back, grinning as he watched the color drain from the room, breathing in the suddenly stale air. "How cute. You plan to fight me? You won't last a minute, Nibai-chan. Come now, be reasonable." 

And Kamui suddenly seemed to have found his voice, and his muscles suddenly responded as he took a defensive stance beside Nibai. 

"_I'll_ last more than a minute," he growled, even as Nibai was too exhausted to feel relief. She was too exhausted to feel _pain_, it seemed, as suddenly her last shred of energy seemed to disappear from her body and she crumpled to the ground, her vision going cloudy around the edges as her lungs suddenly seemed to fill with thick, heavy air and every breath became a struggle as she had never known. 

But still the kekkai remained intact. And then Kamui struck. 

Tiny pieces of the ceiling began raining down around them as he lashed out at Fuuma, who easily countered and struck back. Kamui fended off much of the returned blow, then struck again, as she could do nothing more than watch and try to hold onto whatever consciousness she had left.

Fuuma was thoroughly enjoying himself, that much was clear, and his laughter only seemed to fuel Kamui's anger further, until he was striking again and again, heedless of anything but Fuuma before him. 

"You know, I'd appreciate it if we ended this before I was out of a home," Fuuma finally said, blocking a blow easily. "Much as I'd love to beat your tight little ass into the ground, Kamui-chan, we need to end this _now_ or you'll pay for a new house." 

As a ball of energy began to grow in Fuuma's hands, and she saw something dark flash across Kamui's face before he said, "This isn't your house because _you're not Fuuma_." 

And he let loose with his own energy, actually succeeding in knocking Fuuma into – and through – the wall of Kotori's room. The air was thick with plaster and dust; Nibai coughed as the air became harder to breathe, trying to concentrate on Kamui, who was keeping on his guard, watching for Fuuma in the clearing air. 

And found that Fuuma wasn't there. 

"Damn it!" He pounded one fist into what was left of the wall, even as she began to choke, dust filling her lungs and her vision fading in and out, the pain suddenly back with a vengeance as she felt her concentration slipping.

Kamui started and looked over at her – and suddenly seemed to realize what was going on, as he bounded over to her. 

"Take the kekkai down!" he screamed at her, bending down over her even as the kekkai collapsed back onto her and she fell over, too dizzy to remain even sitting upright any longer, breath still coming in ragged gasps, and the world shimmered once, then solidified around them, undamaged. 

"Come on," he said, dragging her bodily up, her skin screaming in pain at the contact. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders again and stumbled out into the hall towards the door, and she heard him breathing beside her, and she knew that she could fall now, and that maybe when she woke up, things would be a little better than they were now.

So she gave in, and fell.


End file.
